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Free Grammar Help
Nouns are words that represent things. These things may be real, or concepts. Sometimes we use the definition "person, place, or thing," but a noun can also be an idea or concept. For example the word "noun" is a noun, because it is a concept of a kind of word. This means that the word "verb" is also a noun.
Case
Case is how we talk about changes to nouns which tell us about whether they are the subject or object. In English case doesn't change much, but in other languages case can change. In pronouns it's important to know whether the pronoun is a subject (I), object (me) or possessive (mine). But most other nouns don't change except in the possessive case.
Nominative Case
This is the case used for the subject of a sentence. It's pretty easy to know your write "I hit the ball," not "Me hit the ball," but one common question I get is goes like this: "which is correct: She is richer than I OR She is richer than me." This is one of many examples where informal and formal English differ. The reason is that there is an assumed (not written) verb after the second pronoun. If we insert the missing verb, it is clear the formal version is correct: She is richer than I (am). When we use it as a comparison, the rule is the same: She is happier than they (are.)
We use the pronoun "who" even if there are elements between it and its verb. Example: "I will choose the one who I think makes the best candidate." (Who is the subject of makes.)
We also use the nominative case for any pronoun that is the subject of a clause even when that clause is the object of another subject. Sounds confusing? OK, here's an example: "I am looking for the guy who broke into my house." (Who is the subject of broke. "The guy who broke into my house" is the object of looking.)
OK, and here's one more that bugs me because it just seems wrong to me. we use the nominative case of the personal pronoun after forms of the verb "to be". This means it's right to answer "This is he" when someone asks for you on the telephone. Ugh. I always thought the subject was "it" and therefore the object is "me."
We also use the nominative for a pronoun following the infinitive form of the verb "to be" when the infinitive has no expressed subject. This means we write "I would not want to be he" and we all thought it was "I wouldn't want to be him." That's why most of us just don't speak no good English.
Objective Case
We use the objective case for the object of a verb, verbal or preposition. (A verbal is a verb that acts like a noun--more later.)
1. Object of a verb: I hit him. Whom did you hit?
2. Object of a verbal: Robbing them is my favourite activity. (Them is the object of the verbal Robbing.)
3. Object of a preposition: Three of them were arrested. (Them is the object of the preposition of.)
Possessive Case
These are words that indicate possession or ownership. Usually indicated by an apostrophe and an s. Exceptions include pronouns (including it) which usually take no apostrophe and plurals which place the apostrophe after the s. The apostrophe is added at the end of the word when the addition of an additional s would be awkward because the word already has two s sounds close to the end of the word such as "Jesus' teachings" instead of "Jesus's teachings."
Here's a common question: "Which is correct? I appreciate his coming OR I appreciate him coming? The answer is: (You're going to get tired of this) It depends on whether you're speaking formally or informally.
Formal: I appreciate his coming.
Informal: I appreciate him coming.
Why? Because in English we use the possessive case for a noun coming before a gerund. (A gerund is the -ing form of a noun.) Who made up that rule? A lot of the rules in the English language were made up by scholars during the Victorian age. This was a period when people were obsessed with proper conduct. They thought it was improper for women to let their legs be seen so they also created covers for piano legs. They also tried to get us to stop liking sex. That only worked for about a hundred years or so. Unfortunately some of the rules of grammar have lasted.
Apostrophes in the Possessive Case
Apostrophes are the most misused symbol in the English language. They are a vestige of when English had four cases: Nomative, Genetive (Possessive), Accusative and Dative. It's only used for contractions and possessives. I used to have a business card with the slogan: "It's important to know the apostrophe and its uses." As you see, the sentence uses both "its" and "it's" to demonstrate the difference.
Click here for more on apostrophes.
| An apostrophe before the s is used to indicate possessive case |
Frank's dog.
Frank's dog's bone.
Exceptions: It's = it is so use "its" for possessive.
Example: It's Frank's dog. Frank's dog chews its bone. |
| An apostrophe is used after the s if the word is plural |
If Frank has two dogs and they share some bones then:
It's Frank's dogs' bones.
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| An apostrophe is used after the s when the noun ends in s and the addition of another s is awkward. (This is a judgment call and can go either way, depending on the writer.) |
Example: The Smith's house is beside the Jones' house
Example: It's the Raiders' ball on the 10 yard line!
Example: I took a big bite out of the octopus' tentacle and he didn't like it!
Note: An apostrophe is never used after the s in its.
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