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Cases of Nouns: When to Use

Subjective, Objective, and Possessive


Nouns in the English language have three cases: subjective, objective and
possessive. The case of the noun depends on how the noun functions in the
sentence. Is the noun used as the main subject of the sentence? Is the
noun used to show possession of something else? Is the noun in the sentence
receiving something from another object? Does the noun follow a preposition?
Answering the above questions can help you determine the type of nouns
found in a sentence.

The function of the noun determines its case. Sign up for Advanced English
Grammar to learn more about nouns (indefinite, definite) or other parts of
speech. Then follow along with this article to learn more about the three cases
of nouns: subjective, objective and possessive.

First, a Word About Cases of Nouns: Changing Form


(Or How Nouns Usually Dont!)
Unlike verbs, which might change form depending upon the tense used in the
sentence ie: jog, jogging, jogged or lick, licking, licked most nouns do not
change form depending upon their case. As with most things, there are
exceptions. One exception to this general rule when it comes to cases of nouns:
Possessive nouns, which we will discuss later in this article, sometimes change
form through the addition of an apostrophe and, possibly, an s.

Though we are discussing cases of nouns in particular, pronouns also display


the same cases as nouns. Pronouns may be used as the main subject in a
sentence; they may be used to display possession; and they may be used as an
object of a proposition. While cases of nouns do not typically change form,
cases of pronouns can.

Now, lets take a look at the cases of nouns separately with examples of each.

Cases of Nouns: Subjective


Subjective nouns are sometimes referred to as nominative nouns. These nouns
either are the subject of the sentence or they are used as a predicate noun,
which follows a be verb and renames the main subject of the sentence. These
are likely the easiest nouns to spot, as they are typically the subject of the verb
in the sentence.

Lets take a look at a few examples of subjective/nominative nouns:

Mary drove to the store. Mary is a subjective noun; she is the one that drove.

Elvis sang for many years. Elvis was the one doing the singing; Elvis is the
subjective noun.

Now, compare those two examples with the following two examples of how
they may be used as a predicate noun:

The teacher was the speaker. The speaker is renaming who the teacher was
and it is linked by was.

Allen is a pediatrician. Pediatrician is the predicate noun as it is renaming who


Allen is and it is linked by the verb is.

Cases of Nouns: Objective


Nouns are referred to as objective when they are used as direct objects,
indirect objects or objects of a preposition. Locating the objective nouns can
be a bit trickier than spotting a subjective or predicate noun, but with a little
practice you will have no trouble identifying these cases of nouns in a
sentence. So lets practice!

Direct Objects: Direct objects receive action in a sentence. They can typically
be found by looking at the verb in the sentence and asking what? or
sometimes whom? As an example:

Show her the book now. (Show whom the book? Her. Her is the direct object.)

My brother licked a lizard. (Licked what? A lizard. Lizard is the direct object.)

Indirect Objects: Indirect objects receive the direct object and can be
identified by locating the direct object first and then asking who received that
direct object. Sounds confusing? It wont be after youve had a bit of practice
locating the indirect object. Lets look at a few examples:

Mark threw his father the football. Here, the verb is throw. Throw what? The
football, which is the direct object. Threw the football to whom? He threw it to
his father, which would be the recipient of the direct object (the football) and,
therefore, the indirect object.

Heres another example of an indirect object:

Barbara gave her sister a dollar. To whom did she give the dollar, which is
your direct object? To her sister. So, her sister is the recipient, or the indirect
object, based on the rules above.

Objects of a Preposition: The object of a preposition is the noun or pronoun


that follows a preposition. For example:

He eats with me. With is the preposition, so me is the object of the


preposition.

We used one example above that could have been written by using an object of
the preposition. Look at this:

Mark threw his father the football.

Instead, we could have written:

Mark threw the football to his father. In this instance, due to the use of the
preposition to, father becomes the object of a preposition.

Cases of Nouns: Possessive


Nouns are considered possessive when they are used to show ownership of
something. They will sometimes use an apostrophe, but this is not always the
case. Pronouns can also be used in the possessive case, as in his backpack or
her purse.

Examples of possessive nouns include:

Marys backpack was red. Marys is the possessive noun showing ownership of
the backpack.

Geralds shirt was blue with white stripes. Geralds is the possessive noun.

The course Elementary English Course EFL teaches students about


possessive pronouns.
Cases of Nouns: Getting Your Toes Wet
While we have briefly broken down the different cases of nouns and given you
some examples of each, this lesson is just allowing you to get your toes wet
when it comes to practicing these parts of speech. We did not talk about a
variety of other things, such as predicate adjectives, which describes nouns;
intransitive verbs, which do not have direct objects; or verb complements. For
more advanced lessons in the English language, try our Intermediate
English course.

To practice more usage of nouns, along with verbs and pronouns, sign up
for The Elements of English Grammar, which offers practice sessions
and over 430 minutes of video instruction.

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