Case Examples

Free grammar tips, lessons and tests			Recommended purchases
This site: Grammar Monster on line	Daily tips with Grammar Monster's gadget	Daily tips with Grammar Monster on Twitter	The best grammar reference books	Grammar Monster off line	The only grammar checker we'll endorse
Common grammar errors Easily confused words Grammar terms & definitions Grammar tests Grammar lessons Search this site

Case - Glossary of Terms

Case

Predominantly, there are 4 cases used in modern English: the subjective case, the objective case, the genitive case and the vocative case.

The subjective case is for a noun (or pronoun) that is the subject of a verb.

Examples:

Anne went to the shop.

She went to the shop.

The genitive case is used, in the main, to indicate possession.

Examples:

This is Anne's bag.

This is her bag.

The objective case is for a noun (or pronoun) that is either the direct object or indirect object of a verb or the object of a preposition.

Examples:

I visited Anne.

I visited her.

The vocative case is used to indicate when a person (usually) is being addressed directly. It terms of spelling, it is identical to the subjective case. However, words in the vocative case should be offset from the remainder of the sentence with comma(s).

Examples:

Paul, is this your tent peg?

You, get off my lawn.

Associated pages:

What is the vocative case?
The difference between who and whom
Glossary of grammatical terms