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Case in Grammar
What Is Case in Grammar?
Case shows a noun's or a pronoun's relationship with the other words in a sentence.Here are the main cases you will encounter in English:
Subjective Case
The subjective case is used for the subject of a verb. For example:- He gave her a letter. ("He" is the subject of "gave.")
Objective Case
The objective case is used for the object of a verb or a preposition. For example:- He saw her with them. ("Her" is the direct object of "saw." "Them" is the object of the preposition "with.")
Possessive Case
The possessive case shows possession or ownership. For example:- The dog has eaten the cat's dinner. (The apostrophe in "the cat's" tells us the cat owns the dinner.)
Vocative Case
The vocative case is used for direct address. For example:- Get off the phone, John. ("John" is being addressed. The comma before "John" puts John in the vocative case.)
Table of Contents
- Easy Examples of Case
- More Examples of the Subjective Case
- More Examples of the Objective Case
- More Examples of the Possessive Case
- More Examples of the Vocative Case
- Why Case in Grammar Is Important
- Printable Test

When studying a foreign language, you will quickly encounter the following terms:
- Nominative Case
- Accusative Case
- Genitive Case
- Dative Case
- Instrumental Case
Easy Examples of Case
The table below shows how nouns and pronouns change (or don't) in the various cases.Subjective Case | Objective Case | Possessive Case | Vocative Case | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Possessive Determiner | Possessive Pronoun | |||
I | me | my | mine | |
you (singular) | you | your | yours | Get off, you. |
he / she / it | him / her / it | his / her / its | his / hers / its | |
we | us | our | ours | |
you (plural) | you | your | yours | You, scram! |
they | them | their | theirs | |
dog | dog | dog's | Hands up, dog. | |
dogs | dogs | dogs' | Run away, dogs. |
More Examples of the Subjective Case
The subjective case (shaded in these examples) is for a noun or pronoun that is the subject of a verb (i.e., the person or thing carrying out the action). For example:- Lee went to Greggs. He supports Greggs.
- Weighing 23,237 pounds, the world's largest meat pie was made by 17 catering students from Stratford-upon-Avon College. (You will notice the whole noun phrase is shaded, not just the head noun (pie). In English, nouns don't change their forms in the various cases, but in other languages they might – as might any adjectives or determiners of the head noun. More on this to come...)
- Almonds are a member of the peach family. (Are is a linking verb.)
- It was he. (Through common usage, "It was him" is also acceptable.)
More Examples of the Objective Case
The objective case (shaded) is for a noun or pronoun that is one of the following:- The direct object of a verb (e.g., She likes him.)
- The indirect object of a verb (e.g., Give her the money.)
- The object of a preposition (e.g., Go with them.)
- Frogs don't drink water. They absorb it.
- If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you first must invent the universe. (Astronomer Carl Sagan)
- Give her this message. (This message is the direct object. Her is the indirect object, i.e., the recipient of this message.)
- Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. (Painter Pablo Picasso) (The direct object is answers. You is the indirect object, i.e., the recipient of answers.)
- Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg travelled around the world in 80 days.
- Kites rise highest against the wind not with it. (Prime Minister Winston Churchill)
More Examples of the Possessive Case
The possessive case (shaded) shows possession. With nouns, it is shown with an apostrophe. Pronouns in the possessive case come in two forms: possessive determiners (e.g., my, your) and possessive pronouns (e.g., mine, yours).- An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
- Bader's philosophy was my philosophy. His whole attitude to life was mine. (Actor Kenneth More, who played RAF fighter ace Douglas Bader in "Reach for the Sky")
More Examples of the Vocative Case
The vocative case (shaded) shows when something (usually a person) is being addressed directly. Words in the vocative case are offset with comma(s).- Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.
- Come here, you big lump. Take your noogie like a man.
- I know your auntie, David.
Examples of the Accusative Case
You are most likely to encounter the term "accusative case" when studying a foreign language. The accusative case's main function is to show the direct object of a verb. In English, the accusative case falls under the objective case.- Anteaters prefer termites.
- Hollywood is a place where people from Iowa mistake each other for stars. (Comedian Fred Allen)
- Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. (Comedian Groucho Marx)
Examples of the Dative Case
You are most likely to encounter the term "dative case" when studying a foreign language. The dative case's main function is to show the indirect object of a verb. In English, the dative case falls under the objective case.Here are some examples of nouns and pronouns as indirect objects (i.e., in the dative case):
- If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank. (Woody Allen) (The direct object is some clear sign. The indirect object (i.e., the recipient of the action) is me. Therefore, me is in the dative case.)
- Count not him among your friends who will retail your privacies to the world. (Latin writer Publilius Syrus) (The indirect object often follows a preposition like to or for.)
You might also encounter dual-case prepositions, which can take the accusative case or the dative case. Typically, they take the accusative with a verb involving movement from one place to another but the dative when there's no movement involved.
- The mouse ran under the bed. (Here, in German for example, the bed would be in the accusative case (unter das Bett) because there is movement towards the bed.)
- The mouse is under the bed. (Here, in German, the bed would be in the dative case (unter dem Bett) because it's about being located under the bed; i.e., there's no movement towards it.)
Examples of the Instrumental Case
You are most likely to encounter the term "instrumental case" when studying a foreign language, particularly a Slavic one. The case's main function is to show that a noun is the means by which the action is achieved. In English, we do this with prepositions, typically by and with, and the objective case. We don't use the term instrumental case.- Idem na posao autobusom. (This is Bosnian for "I travel to work by bus." The Bosnian word for bus is autobus. The -om ending puts it in the instrumental case, showing it's the means by which the action (travel) is achieved.)
(Point 1) Don't get possessive apostrophes wrong.
The rules for creating possessive-case nouns cause a headache for some, and grammar checkers often can't help because wrong versions are often feasibly correct versions from the grammar checker's perspective.- I have one dog, not two, one. I definitely have just one dog. My dogs' kennel is green.
(Point 2) Don't forget to use a comma for the vocative case.
You might not have heard of the vocative comma, but there are plenty of times when you should be using one.- Hi, John
- See you later, darling.
- Clean your room, Mark.
- Dear Lee, thanks for the all the whelks.
- Take it from me, dear, it's not true.
- Take it from me, dear. It's not true.
(Point 3) Don't put apostrophes in possessive-case pronouns.
Apostrophes are used with possessive-case nouns (e.g., parson's nose), but they're not used with the possessive-case pronouns, especially not yours, hers, ours, or theirs, which are particularly prone to this mistake.- Bull reindeer lose their antlers in winter. The cows lose their's in the summer.
- A cat always lands on it's feet.
- There are no apostrophes in any possessive-case pronouns.
- Oi, you, don't forget the commas if you address someone directly.
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