NOUN: CASE
There are four kinds of CASE: Nominative, Possessive, Accusative, Dative.
1. Accusative Case
If Noun or Pronoun is used as the subject, it is called Nominative case.
1. She is reading. (Nominative)
2. Mohan is walking. (Nominative)
2. Possessive Case
If the possession or the relation ol noun is expressed, it is called Possessive Case.
1. Rahul’s book. (possession)
2. Sharukh’s brother. (relation)
3. Accusative Case
If noun or pronoun is used as the object, it is called Accusative case.
1. I like her. (Accusative)
2. That is Anjali. (Accusative)
4. Dative Case
If Noun or pronoun is called or addressed, it is called Dative case.
1. John, read mindly. (Dative)
2. Come here, Seema. (Dative)
But, before reading Noun and Case, we should study the case of Pronoun.
The case of Pronoun
| Nominative | Accusative | Possessive |
|---|---|---|
| we | us | our/ours |
| I | me | my/mine |
| he | him | his |
| she | her | her/hers |
| you | you | your/yours |
| they | them | their/theirs |
| who | whom | whose |
1. After ‘let‘ pronouns are used in Accusative Case.
Let we read thoroughly. –wrong
Let us read thoroughly. –correct
Let them, her and we go there. –wrong
Let them, her and us go there. –correct
2. After preposition pronoun is used in Accusative Case.
There is a nice relation between she and I. –wrong
There is a nice relation between her and me. –Correct
3. After ‘than‘ pronoun should be used in Nominative case.
Ram is better than her. –Wrong
Ram is better than she. –correct
But, Ram runs faster than she/her. –correct
As helping verb is not used in comparative degree.
4. After ‘if‘, pronoun is used in Nominative Case.
If I were him I would have gone. –wrong
If I were he I would have gone. –correct
Use of the Possessive Case
1. To the end of a singular Noun we put (‘s), apostrophe for Possessive Case.
Rajiv’s book, Meena’s mother, President’s bodyguard
2. ‘s‘ ending plural nouns take only (‘).
Boys’ hostel, Girls’ school.
But,
Women’s college, Men’s competition, Children’s
3. In compound nouns, we use possessive with the last term.
Commander-in-chief’s order
Mother-in-law’s house
Father-in-law’s problem
Engineer-in-chiefs’ office
Brother-in-law’s wife
4. lf possessive is used before ‘than‘, it should be used after ‘than‘.
Ravi’s sister is more beautiful than Karan. –Wrong
Ravi’s sister is more beautiful than Karan’s. –correct.
Kareena’s husband is more handsome than Karishma. –wrong
Kareena’s husband is more handsome than Karishma’s. –correct
Rohan’s brother is more intelligent than Mohan. –wrong
Rohan’s brother is more intelligent than Mohan’s. –correct
5. If possessive is used before ‘as‘ it should also be used after ‘as‘.
Doly’s sister is as beautiful as Sony. –wrong
Dolly’s sister is as beautiful as Sony’s. –correct
6. If two Nouns are closely related, we are to use possessive with the last Noun.
Kapoor and son’s shop.
Choudhury and grand son’s shop.
But,
Keats’ and Shelley’s poems.
Smith’s and Adam’s definations.
These two nouns are not closely related.
7. If there is too much sound of ‘hiss, ses, sus‘ etc., of the last syllable of a noun, we use only (‘).
Moses’ death,
Jesus’ love,
Consciences’ sake,
For justices’ sake,
For goodness’ sake.
8. Possessive is also used with some personified phrases.
At death’s door,
Fortune’s favour,
The soul’s prayer,
God’s mercy,
India’s heroes,
Nature’s laws,
At duty’s call.
9. The Possessive can also be used to show ‘time, distance, weight, edge‘ etc.
A mule’s distance.
A bat’s edge.
A stone’s throw.
A week’s leave.
A kilo’s weight.
A day’s match.
In a year’s time.
A month’s holiday.
A foot’s length.
10. Possessive can too be used to indicate ‘school, shop, clinic, church, house, college, hospital, theatre‘ etc.
Sonia reads in St.columbu’s. (in St.Columbus school)
Kamia went to barber’s. (the shop of barber)
Kavita went to doctor’s. (the cliníc of doctor)
To-night l dine at my uncle’s. (house of uncle)
Anand was educated at Xavier’s. (Xavier school)
11. The following phrases are also commonly used.
At his wit’s end.
For mercy’s sake.
A boat’s crew.
At his finger’s end.
To his heart’s content.
