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10 Noun Cases
Nominative | Oblique | Genitive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dative | Genitive | |||||||
Voc Vocative |
Nom Nominative |
Acc Accusative |
Dat Dative |
Loc Locative |
Ins Instrumental |
Lat Lative |
Abl Ablative |
Gen Genitive |
SA. | S. | DO. | IO. | IO. | IO. | IO. | IO. | Possessive |
Ø | PN. | Ø | DO. | DO. | DO. | DO. | DO. | Descriptor |
Ø | to (∞) | to (∞) | at in on. to by for with within into toward until unto upon through |
at in on by with within near upon over under above below inside through |
in on by with through |
at in on to by into onto toward upon |
from | of from about |
Simple Address |
Subject – Predicate Nominative – Subject Infinitive – Subject Gerund |
Direct Object – Predicate Infinitive – Predicate Gerund |
Abstract Involvement Intent Purpose Service Gift Relation Concept Indirect Object Direct Object |
Time Space Proximity |
Means Method Manner Agent |
Movement toward |
Movement away |
Possession Origin Approximation Topic Relation Substance Contents Experiencer Trigger Modifier Location Direct Object Subject |
S. – Subject
PN. – Predicate Nominative
DO. – Direct Object
IO. – Indirect Object
SA. – Simple Address
Three cases do not use prepositions: Nominative, Accusative, and Vocative.
Accusative: Direct Object can also apply to a could-be “Locative” Case candidate when not having a preposition; viz “place”, whether “temporal place” or “place in space”, AKA “time & space”. This applies to “pronouns used as modifiers of time & space”…
- Go/get home.
- Do it tomorrow.
- Come here.
(tomorrow/yesterday = pronoun, Cambridge CGEL)
These pronouns could be treated as modifiers/adverbs, but are easy to understand as pronouns with the Accusative or Nominative cases when used without prepositions.
Dative: Direct Object
- Throw to me.
Genitive: Direct Object
- Talk about John.
- Argue about friendship.
Dative/Genitive: Comparison
- See the forest for the trees. (Dative)
- Know how to tell truth from lie and good from bad. (Genitive)
Three English cases (for pronouns): Nominative, Oblique, Genitive
English Cases (Pronouns, by spelling) | ||
---|---|---|
Nominative | Oblique | Genitive |
I We He She They |
me us him her them |
my/mine our/ours his/his her/hers their/theirs |
Three annexed cases: Ablative (Genitive); Locative & Instrumental (Dative)
Genitive (annexed) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Ablative | Genitive |
|||
from | Movement away | I came from town. They flew in from Alaska. Look away from the sun. Get back from the stove. |
Origin | It’s [a gift] from me. Is that from the fridge? They’re from Europe. Learn from your father. |
Dative (annexed) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Lative | Dative |
|||
to into for toward until unto upon on. |
Movement toward Indirect-Object Direct-Object |
I came to town. They flew into Alaska. Look toward/unto the sun. We will work until/unto dawn. Place it upon the stove. Give it to me. Move on. |
Abstract Indirect-Object Direct-Object Involvement Intent Purpose Concept in within |
Explain it to us. Sing for them. Talk with me. Don’t speak for me. This is to/for you. He stole for food. You can in theory. Work within reason. In all fairness… |
Dative (annexed) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Locative | Instrumental | |||
with in on upon by within |
Time Space Proximity at, near, by, about, around, during, within, inside, etc. |
She walked with her cousin. Can you finish in one hour? I read in my office on the floor by the window. They sat upon chairs. He paced about the room. Stay within the boundaries. |
Means Method Manner Agent |
Mom writes with a pen. They drove with care. He spoke in anger. We talked on the phone. She went by bus. Solve by asking. It was written by her. |
Note: “about” has many uses, but is always vaguely approximate.
about | ||
---|---|---|
Genitive Modifier (adj./adv.) |
Genitive Location |
Genitive Direct Object |
about [measure] | (v.) about [location] | (v.) of/about [topic/object] |
about [midnight] about [6 o’clock] about [7 feet] about [sea level] about [eye level] about [90%] about [all I can take] |
(run) about (drive) about (fly) about (turn) about. (BE) about. out and about around and about |
(talk) about (write) about (speak) about (think) about (learn) about (inform) about (advise) about |
approximately around roughly close to near |
around. in and around nearby all over in the vicinity of |
concerning relating to pertaining to of/on in connection to/with |
It was about noon. He is about 6 feet tall. We flew about level with the mountain. They are about on time. |
Don’t run about the house. That bird has been flying about the sky all day! The ship turned about. They are out and about. |
We talked about yesterday. He informed us about the concert. She spoke about medicine. I will learn more about HTML. You should think about that. |
Other Genitive Usage
Genitive: Experiencer —
- That was thoughtful of you.
- It was worthy of him to do such a good deed.
…because of you and of him have the person “experiencing” the predicate adjective.
Genitive: Trigger —
- He died from poison.
- She failed from lack of sleep.
…because poison was the “trigger” of his death and lack or lack of sleep “triggered” her failure.
Genitive: Possession —
- the car of you AKA your car
- the house of him AKA his house
Genitive: Substance —
- an airplane made of paper
- the bridge that was built from wood
- a house of cards
Genitive: Contents —
- a cup of coffee
- a book about English
Genitive: Subject —
- Mine is over there.
- Your book was interesting.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia: Grammatical Case #Indo-European eight cases | #English
Syntax of natural language, Ch 8: Case theory, by Beatrice Santorini & Anthony Kroch