NOUN CASES OVERVIEWNOMINATIVE – SUBJECT

NOMINATIVE – PREDICATEACCUSATIVE – DIRECT OBJECT

Noun Cases – Part 1

Today You Will Learn:

What the different noun cases are.Why case is important.How to spot subject nominatives.How to spot predicate nominatives.How to spot direct objects.

What is a noun?

A noun is a: Person (daughter, sister, friend, teacher, Ms. Littler, Kim) Place (school, home, store, library, lake, Disneyland) Thing (book, desk, pencil, bed, computer)

Idea (love, sleep, excitement, humor, fun)

Noun cases

Nouns are used in many different ways in sentences.

The different ways they are used are called “cases.”

Latin has six different cases. Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Ablative Vocative

Why is Case Important?

Man Shark Shore Surfboard Bite Ride

Write a single sentence using all of these words.

How much sense does your sentence make?Is it different than others’ sentences?

Why is Case Important?

In English, word order (sentence structure) influences the meaning of a sentence. If you change the word order, you can potentially change the

meaning.

The Surfboard was biting the shark which was riding on the man near the shore.

The Shark was biting the man who was riding on the surfboard near the shore.

THESE HAVE DIFFERENT

MEANINGS!!!

Why is Case Important?

In Latin, word order (sentence structure) doesn’t matter, because every word has its own case. If you change the word order, but keep each noun in its same

case, the meaning of the sentence won’t change.

Puer navem ad viam in Asiā navigat.Navigat navem in Asiā puer ad viam.Ad viam puer in Asiā navem navigat.

THESE MEAN THE SAMETHING!!!

Nominative

The subject of a sentence (the noun that does the action).

Examples: Ms. Littler is a teacher. My mom cooks good food. Books are fun to read. Utah is really cold in the winter.

Genitive

Shows possession (that something belongs to it).

EXAMPLES: My cat’s fur is soft. Ms. Littler’s classroom is warm. I like to drive my brother’s car.

Dative

Indirect Object (the noun that is receiving something).

EXAMPLES: I gave a book to my friend. Mrs. Stiles gives candy to me. My mom cooks for me. My cat likes when I give treats to her.

Accusative

Direct Object (the noun that the action is done to).

EXAMPLE: I use my computer a lot. My friend sends cards to me sometimes. I love to read books. I love Doctor Who.

Ablative

Object of a preposition (shows relationships).

EXAMPLES: I take walks at night with my mom. I sleep on my bed, because it is comfy. My best friend lives far away from me. I live next to a grocery store.

Vocative

Direct address (when you speak directly to someone or something).

EXAMPLES: Ladies and gentlemen, I love having you in my class. Oh homework, why must you take so much time?! Hello, old friend! Hey, Ms. Littler, can I ask you a question?

All six noun cases

Nominative Subject The/A _____

Genitive Possession of _____ or _____’s

Dative Indirect Object to/for _____

Accusative Direct Object the/a _____

Ablative Object of a Prep. by/with/from ___

Vocative Direct Address Oh _____!

The Subject

The subject of a sentence is the noun that does the action.

You can usually locate the subject by asking: Who? What?

A line of people waited to see the movie. Who waited? Standing in line were several sailors. Who stood in

line?

The subject cannot be removed from the sentence.

Sometimes a subject can be more than one word. This is called a compound subject.

A line of people waited to see the movie. Standing in line were several sailors.

You only need one of these words. This is called a simple subject.

A line of people waited to see the movie. Standing in line were several sailors.

In Latin, the subject will always be in the nominative case.

The Predicate

The predicate of a sentence completes the subject.

You can usually locate the predicate by asking: What is being said about the subject? What happened?

There are two types of predicates: Verbs. Predicate nominatives.

A predicate nominative is a noun (or adjective) that occurs after a linking verb, and renames the subject.

The most common linking verb is: To Be (am, is are, was, were, be, being, been)

Other linking verbs include:to feel to taste to lookto smell to become to seemto sound to grow to remainto appear to stay

You can often invert (switch) the order of the sentence to change the subject and predicate nominative.

In Latin, the predicate will always be in the nominative case.

The Direct Object

The direct object of a sentence is the noun that receives the action of the verb.

You can usually locate the direct object by asking: What did the subject do?

Word order in English sentences is: Subject Verb Direct Object

A sentence can have more than one direct object. We call these compound direct objects.

Not all verbs take a direct object. Linking verbs do not. Intransitive verbs do not.

Transitive verbs do.

In Latin, the direct object will always be in the accusative case.