CASES OF NOUNS

At one time in the English language, both nouns and pronouns changed form according to their use in a sentence.
CASE – is the form of a noun or pronoun that indicates its use in a sentence.
 Cases of Nouns
o Nominative
 Subject
 Predicate Nominative
o Objective
 Direct Object
 Indirect Object
 Object of the Preposition
o Possessive

NOMINATIVE CASE
 SUBJECT
o a person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt with.
o the center of thought in the sentence.
o can be usually found at the beginning of the sentence.
o the only part of speech that can function as subjects are NOUN and PRONOUN.
Examples:
1. People in stressful situation will often show symptoms of fatigue.

2. The shoppers and the salespersons felt the tension of the holidays and snapped at one another.

3. New York is the setting for many pieces of American Literature.

 PREDICATE NOMINATIVE
o a noun or pronoun that comes after the linking verb and renames the subject.

BE VERBS
 Am  Can be
 Is  Could be  Have been
 Are  May be  Has been
 Was  Might be  Had been
 Were  Must be  Could/should
 Am being  Shall be have been
 Are being  Should be  May/might/ must
 Is being  Will be have been
 Was being  Would be  Will/would have
 Were being been

Examples:

1. Curt's favorite toy is his big truck.

2. An honest man should have been the leader of the country.

3. Liza’s favorite food are pizza and pasta.

OBJECTIVE CASE
 DIRECT OBJECT
o a noun or pronoun that is the recipient of the action of a transitive verb
o answers the question that starts with what or who.

Examples:

1. Dennis and Susan ate omelets for breakfast. (What did Dennis and Susan eat for breakfast?)

2. The chauffeur accidentally locked his keys in his limousine. (What did the chauffeur accidentally lock in his
limousine?)
 3. I called Agnes last night. (Who did I call last night?)

 INDIRECT OBJECT
o a noun phrase referring to someone or something that is affected by the action of a transitive
verb.
o is the recipient of the direct object.
o It tells to whom or for whom the action is done.

Examples:

1. The man built his family a house.

2. Anne bought her son a new car.

3. The counselor sent your parents a letter about the seminar.

 OBJECT OF THE PREPOSITION

o is a noun or pronoun that appears after a preposition.

Examples:

1. She lost her ring at the beach.

2. The book belongs to Anthony.

3. There is some milk in the fridge.

4. We located the key for the door.

5. I got a package from a friend.

 APPOSITIVE
- Is a noun or pronoun placed to another noun or pronoun to identify, rename, or explain it.
Examples:
1. She did not care for his hobby, running.

2. My friend, Marilyn, broke her collarbone.

3. They gave my cousin, Susan, an award for her performance.

POSSESSIVE CASE
o shows possession or ownership.
o add ‘s or ‘ to the noun

Examples:
Student Student’s ID
Mike Mike’s apartment
Parents Parents’ Conference
Woman Woman’s accessory
Employee Employee’s salary
Jess Jess’ scholarship