Noun - Cases

There are four principal cases of nouns:

1. Subjective (or Nominative) Case - noun is used as a subject

2. Objective Case - (Accusative and Dative cases)
   Accusative case - noun is used as direct object
   Dative case - noun is used as indirect object
   
   Note: In English accusative and dative cases are one and the same. So we just call them as objective case.

3. Possessive (or Genitive) Case - noun is used to show possession

4. Vocative Case - noun is used to address somebody

Subjective/Nominative Case

A noun or pronoun is in the Nominative Case or Subjective Case:

• when it is the subject of a sentence (or you can say Subject of a verb)
  
  For example:
  He is going to be a big star one day.
  (He – pronoun, working as subject, is in subjective case)

• when it completes a being verb, i.e. acts as a subjective complement (called Predicate Noun).
  
  For example:
  He is my brother.
  (my brother – subjective complement in subjective case)

To find the Nominative, put Who? or What? before the verb.

Saurabh threw a stone. (Who threw a stone? - Saurabh)

The clock fell on Tom. (What fell on Tom? - clock)

Objective Case

A noun or pronoun is in the Objective Case :

• when it receives the action of a transitive verb (i.e. is the Direct Object of a verb).
  Samuel kicked him. (him – direct object in objective case)

• when it serves as the object of a preposition. 
  I am sure that you will be helped by him. (him – prepositional object in objective case)

• when it is used as an indirect object.
  Nicole gave me a laptop. (me – indirect object in objective case)

• when it is used as an objective complement.
  They made him the vice-president. (vice-president - objective complement in objective case)

To find the Accusative put, Whom? or What? after the verb and its subject.

James threw a stone. (James threw what? – stone, which is a direct object)

The clock fell on Tom. (The clock fell on whom? – Tom, which is the object of preposition ‘on’)

Distinguishing between Subjective and Objective cases

In case of Nouns

Nouns in English have the same form in the Subjective and the Accusative case.

Mragank broke the window. (window - object)
The window was broken. (window - subject)

They are distinguished by the order of words, or by the sense - The Subjective generally comes before the verb, and the Accusative after the verb.

In case of Pronouns

In case of pronouns, spellings of pronouns in subjective and objective cases may be different.

When to use Nominative and Objective cases?

Concept 1

In a sentence whenever we need a subject, we should use the subjective case. And whenever we need an object, we should use the objective case.

Let’s see some examples:

I found he jumping. (incorrect – he is an object, but it is in subjective case here)
I found him jumping. (correct)

Her writes well. (incorrect – her is a subject, but it is in objective case here)
She writes well. (correct)

Concept 2

In case of subjective complement, we will always use the subjective case.

It is us. (incorrect) It is we. (correct – ‘we’ is the subjective complement and ‘is’ is a linking verb here)

It is me. (incorrect) It is I. (correct - ‘I’ is the subjective complement and ‘is’ is a linking verb here)

Concept 3

Preposition is followed by an object (noun/pronoun in objective case).
E.g. against him, about her, between you and me, because of him

I went their because of she. (incorrect)
I went their because of her. (correct)

Note: However when ‘because’ is used as a conjunction, we can use subjective case after because, i.e. because + subject + verb.

Vocative Case

A noun used to call somebody is in vocative case.

We can use ‘you’ for a noun of vocative case.

For example:

Children come here. (children – in vocative case)
You come here.

Aanya go there. (Aanya – in vocative case)
You go there.

Possessive Case

When the form of a noun is changed to show ownership or possession, it is said to be in the Possessive (or Genitive) Case.

The Possessive answers the question, ‘Whose?’

This is Amit’s bike. (Whose bike? - Amit’s)

Extra Books and Tools

If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.