Noun - Cases

-----Noun-Case-----

Q. : What is Case?
Ans. : Case tells us the position and function of a noun in any sentence. Case of any noun depends entirely on the use of the noun. It means that according to the need we can use a noun in any case.
There are six cases of noun in English. They are:-

1). Nominative/Subjective Case :-

When a noun is used as a “SUBJECT” of a verb, it is said to be in the “NOMINATIVE/SUBJECTIVE” case.

As :-

1). Manjeet is playing.
2). Rajive hates cooking.
3). In the heart of every person lives God.
4). Manmeet and Priyansi are cousins.

Note :-

To find the SUBJECT put "WHO" or "WHAT" before the verb.

In the sentences above (Manjeet, Rajive, God and Manmeet and Priyansi) are the subjects of the verbs used in the sentences above.So these nouns are called to be in the NOMINATIVE/SUBJECTIVE case.

As :-

(In the first sentence)

Who is playing? The answer is Manjeet(subject).

(In the second sentence)

Who hates cooking? The answer is Rajive(subject).

(In the third sentence)

Who lives in the heart of every person? The answer is God(subject).

(In the fourth sentence)

Who are cousins? The answer is Manmeet and Priyansi(subject).

2). Accusative/Objective case :-

When a noun is used as an “OBJECT” it is said to be in the “ACCUSATIVE/OBJECTIVE” case.

As :-

1). Manjeet is playing football.
2). Rajive hates Raman.
3). People call me Ashok Kumar.
4). Manmeet and Priyansi are cousins.

Note :-

To find the OBJECT put "WHOM"OR"WHAT" with the subject and verb.

In the sentences above (football, Raman and Ashok Kumar) are the objects of the verbs used in the sentences above.So these nouns are called to be in the ACCUSATIVE/OBJECTIVE case.

Noun that comes after a preposition is also said to be in the ACCUSATIVE/OBJECTIVE case. But the preposition should occur after the VERB.

As :-

(In the first sentence)

Who is playing? The answer is Manjeet(subject).
What is Mnjeet playing? The answer is football(object).

(In the second sentence)

Who hates Raman? The answer is Rajive(subject).
Whom does Rajive hates? The answer is Raman(object).
Rajive hates whom? The answer is Raman(object).

(In the third sentence)

Who call me Ashok Kumar? The answer is People(subject).
What does people call me? The answer is Ashok Kumar(object).
People call me what? The answer is Ashok Kumar(object).

(In the fourth sentence)

Who are cousins? The answer is Manmeet and Priyansi(subject).
What are Manmeet and Priyansi? The answer is cousins.
But here the answer cousins is not an object. It is an extension.

To know more about the difference between OBJECT and EXTENSION you can read the definitions of some basic grammatical terms.

In some sentences we find two objects. We define them as :-
i) DIRECT OBJECT (comes in the answer of What)
ii)INDIRECT OBJECT (comes in the answer of Whom)

3). Dative case :-

When we have two objects in a sentence, noun used as an “INDIRECT OBJECT” is said to be in the “DATIVE” case.

As :-

Manmeet gave Priyansi a book.
Manmeet gave what? The answer is “book”(direct object)
Manmeet gave whom? The answer is “Priyansi”(indirect object)
Here in this sentence having two objects “Priyansi” is in the “Dative Case”

4). Genitive/Possessive case :-

When a noun denotes possession or ownership, it is said to be in the “GENITIVE/POSSESSIVE” case.

Note :-

It answers the question “whose?”.

As :-

Natthu Ram Godse's dream is still unfulfilled.
Whose dream = “Natthu Ram Godse's”.
Ashok's house is in India.
Whose house = “Ashok's”

Formation of Possessive Case of Noun

The following rules will tell you how the possessives of nouns are formed :-

Rule 1 :-

We add ('s) to the nouns that do not have /s/ sound at their end to form their possessive.

As :-

Ashok's, Minister's, Mother's, Dad's, etc.

Rule 2 :-

We add (' ) to the nouns that have /s/ sound at their end to form their possessive.

As :-

Horace', Jesus', Hostess', Homeless, etc.

Rule 3 :-

When a noun consists of several words, we add the possessive sign ('  / 's  ) to the last word.

As :-

1).The President of India's decision was good for the country.
2).The Captain of Indian cricket team's batting style is incomparable.

Rule 4 :-

When two nouns are in apposition, we add the possessive sign ('  / 's  ) to the last word.

As :-

1).Partibha Patil, The President of India's decision was good for the country.
2).M. S. Dhoni, the captain of Indian cricket team's batting style is incomparable.

Rule 5 :-

When two or more than two connected nouns have joint possession, we add the possessive sign ('  / 's  ) to the noun which comes latter in the sentence.

As :-

Manmeet and Priyansi's grandfather is the best grandfather in the world.

Rule 6 :-

But when two or more than two connected nouns have separate possession, we add the possessive sign ('  / 's  ) to all the nouns having the possessions in the sentence.

As :-

Manmeet's and Priyansi's fathers are brothers.

Rule 7(a) :-

The possessive case is chiefly used with the names of living things. We use a structure with “of” to show the possession of the lifeless things.

As :-

The leg of the table is broken.
I whitewashed the walls of this room yesterday.

Other Examples :-

Cap of the pen (Not the pen's cap)
Room of a hotel (Not a hotel's room)
Stage of a theater (Not a theater's stage)

Rule 7(b) :-

But we use the possessive of the non-living things if they are personified.

As :-

Death's bending sickle forgives nothing.

Other Examples :-

Nature’s laws
Fortune’s favourites
At duty’s call
At death's door
India's heroes
At the country's call

Rule 7(c) :-

But we use possessive of the non-living things if they denote time, space and weight.

As :-

He is sitting at an arm's length to me.

Other Examples :-

A pound’s weight
A day’s work
A week’s holiday
At a stone’s throw

Rule 7(d) :-

There are some possessive phrases which are in use though they don't fit the above rules. We can call them exceptions.

As :-

at his wit's end, for mercy's sake, to his heart's content, at his finger's end, etc.

Note :-

If the noun which we want to use in possessive case is used as an antecedent of the relative clause, we can't use the possessive sign ('  / 's  ). In such condition we use “of ” to show the possession. By doing so we can avoid the ambiguity.

As :-

1)This is the boy's notebook who is the monitor of this class.(×)
2)This is the notebook of the boy who is the monitor of this class.(√)

According to the first sentence the monitor of the class is (NOTEBOOK).
According to the second sentence the monitor of the class is (BOY).

Note :-

Sometimes however, a noun in the possessive case has a different meaning from a noun with the preposition “of”.

As :-

1. Anna Hazare's reception in Haryana was rapturous.
The above sentence shows a reception held by Anna Hazare's in Haryana.
2)Reception of Anna Hazare in Haryana was rapturous.
The above sentence shows the manner in which people welcomed Anna Hazare when he entered Haryana.

5). Vocative case :-

When nouns are used to address, they are said to be in the “VOCATIVE” case.

As :-

Priyansi, come here and sit down.

In the sentence above the proper noun “Priyansi” is used to address a girl named Priyansi. So the noun “Priyansi” is said to be in the VOCATIVE case.

6). Noun in Apposition :-

When one noun follows another to describe it, the noun that follows is said to be “in apposition” to the noun that comes before it. Noun in apposition remains in the case of the noun that comes before it.

As :-

Shakespeare,the dramatist, has written “The Tempest”.

In the sentence above the noun that comes before is “Shakespeare” and the noun that follows it to describe it is “the dramatist”. So the noun “the dramatist” is said to be in apposition to the noun “Shakespeare”. The noun “the dramatist” is in the SUBJECTIVE case because the noun “Shakespeare” that comes before is in the SUBJECTIVE case.