THE NOUN: CASE

  Examine these sentences:

1. John threw a stone.

2. the horse kicked the boy.

In sentence 1, the noun John is the Subject. It is the answer to the question. “who threw a stone?”

 The group of words threw a stone in the Predicate.

The Predicate contains the verb threw.

What did John throw?  - A stone. Stone is the object  which John threw. The noun stone is therefore called the Object.

In sentence 2, the noun horse is the Subject. It is the answer to the question, ‘Who kicked the boy?”

The noun boy is the Object. It is the answer to the question, ‘Whom did the horse kick?”

When a noun (or pronoun is used as the Subject of a verb, it is said to be in the Nominative Case.

When a noun (pronoun) is used as the Object of a verb, it is said to be in the Objective (orAccusative) Case

 Note- To find the Nominative, put Who? or what? Before the verb.

To find the Accusative, put whom? or Whom? Before the verb and it subject.

A noun which cones after a preposition is also to be in the Accusative Cases; as,

 The book is on the desk.

The noun desk is in the Accusative Case, governed by the preposition in.

Read the following sentences:

   Hari broke the window. (Object)

The window was broken. (Subject)

 It will be seen that nouns in English have the same form for the Nominative and the Accusative.

The Nominative generally comes before the verb, and the Accusative after the verb. Hence they are distinguished by the order of words, or by the sense.

Compare-

1. Rama gave a ball.

2. Rama gave Hari a ball.

In each  of these sentences the noun ball is the Object of gave.

In the second sentence we are told that Hari was the person to whom Rama gave a ball.

The noun Hari is called the Indirect Object of the verb gave.

The noun ball, the ordinary Object, is called the Direct Object

It will be noticed that the position of the Indirect Object immediately after the verb and before the direct Object.

Note-

 Rama gave Hari a ball = Rama gave a ball to Hari.

Will you do me a favour? = will you do a favour to me?

I brought Rama a ball = I brought a ball for Rama.

Fetch the boy a book = Fetch a book for the boy.

She made Ruth a new dress = She made a new dress for Ruth.

Get me a taxi = Get a taxi for me.

We  see that Indirect Object of a verb denotes the person to whom something is given, or for whom something is done.

Examine the sentence:

 This is Ram’s umbrella.

Ram’s umbrella = the umbrella belonging to Rama.

The form of the noun Rama is changed to Rama’s to show ownership or possession. The Noun Rama’ is therefore said to be in the Possessive (or Genitive)Case.

The Possessive answers the question, ‘Whose?’

Whose umbrella? – Ram’s

The Possessive Case does not always denote possession. It is used to denote authorship, origin, kind, etc. as,

Shakespeare’s plays = the plays written by Shakespeare.

A mother’s love = the love felt by a mother.

The President’s speech = the speech delivered by the President.

Mr. Aggarwal’s house = the house where Mr. Aggarwal lives.

Ashok’s school = the school were Ashok goes.

A children’s playground = a playground for children.

A week’s holiday = a holiday which lasts a week.