General Rules for Case – Learning Commons

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Topic 1: What Case is

The case of a noun or pronoun refers to its position and role in a sentence (whether it be subject, object, etc.) While there are technically five cases in English, there are three that are going to be more relevant to you in day to day life: Subjective, Objective, and Possessive.

Subjective Case

Subjective Case, or Nominative Case, is when the noun or pronoun is the subject of the sentence, the thing performing the action of the sentence, as follows:

I am going to the store.

We are taking a walk.

Jim and Susan work in the office.

Objective Case

By contrast, objective case is when the noun or pronoun is the object of the sentence, the recipient of the action. For example:

Give the paper to me.

They went to meet Susan.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Possessive Case

Finally, possessive case is when the noun or pronoun is indicating the owner of the subject or object in the sentence, as follows:

The book is mine.

Dave’s house is just down the street.

I attended their classes.

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