Lesson 5; Nouns: Case
The form of the noun that explains in what relation the noun is standing to some other word is denoted as its Case.
There are five cases of nouns;
- The Nominative
- The Genitive
- The Accusative
- The Dative
- The Vocative
The Nominative Case: The Nominative Case names the thing or the person that suffers or performs the action expressed by a Verb; for example,
“The tiger killed a deer.” In this sentence, the verb ‘killed’ expresses action of killing and the action is performed by ‘the tiger’. So, the ‘tiger’ is in its Nominative Case.
“The baby is fed by her mother.” In this sentence, the verb ‘is fed’ expresses the action of being fed. The person suffers the action is ‘the baby’. So, the ‘baby’ is in its Nominative Case.
To find out Nominative Case in a sentence, you have to consider the verb and ask: “What or who does this?” or “what or who suffers this?” The answer to the question is the noun or pronoun in its Nominative Case.
The noun or the pronoun is the Subject of the respective sentence.
The Genitive Case: The Genitive Case stands for relationship or possession; for example,
“The lion’s mane.” “ The baby’s mother.” Who is the owner of mane? The lion. Who has relationship with the mother? The baby. So, in these sentences, “lion’s” and “baby’s” are in their Genitive Case.
The Genitive Case is generally formed by adding apostrophe s to the noun; such as,
Singular – woman’s.
Plural – women’s.
However, if the plural word ends in s, or if last syllable of a singular starts and ends in s, then the Genitive Case is generally formed by just adding apostrophe.
Singular – Moses’ Law.
Plural – horses’ back.
Points to note:
- Genitive Case is mostly used when the nouns indicate any living thing; such as,
The lion’s mane; the man’s father; the horse’s back, the kid’s toy.
However, if the noun indicates any non-living thing, then the possession is mostly expressed by preposition “of”.
“The windows of the train” ; not “the train’s windows.”
“The heat of fire” ; not “the fire’s heat.”
- Unlike other cases, Genitive Case is indicated by change in the form of a noun.
The Accusative Case: The Accusative Case indicates Direct Object; the force of Preposition or the action of Verb is always directed to that object.
“The tiger killed a deer.” The action of the Verb killed directed to which object? The answer is ‘a deer’; so, ‘deer’ is in its Accusative Case.
The Dative Case: The Dative Case always indicates Indirect Object of the Verb, if there is any.
“I gave Sam a pen.” Sam = to Sam; “Sam” is the Indirect Object in this sentence. “Book” is the Direct Object in this sentence.
The Vocative Case: The Vocative Case always indicates the individual addressed; like,
John, please come here; John is in Vocative Case
Rita, give me the book; Rita is in Vocative Case.
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