nominative case

Meanings

1. 1noununcountabletechnical

   The grammatical form of a noun or pronoun used when it is the subject of a verb.

   Grammar: Usually used with the: the nominative case.

   Patterns

   • in the nominative case
   • the nominative case of something

   In the sentence She sings, the word she is in the nominative case.

   German nouns change their articles in the nominative case.

   Learners of Latin must memorize the nominative case of every noun.

2. 2noununcountabletechnical

   In some languages, the basic form of a noun as listed in a dictionary.

   Grammar: Used when naming the dictionary form of a word.

   Patterns

   • the nominative case of something

   Dictionaries for Russian list nouns in the nominative case.

   The nominative case is the form you look up first.

   In Latin, the nominative case of the word for table is mensa.

Common combinations

in the nominative case

The subject must be in the nominative case.

nominative case pronoun

I is a nominative case pronoun in English.

use the nominative case

Use the nominative case for the subject of the sentence.

nominative singular

The nominative singular is listed first in the table.

nominative and accusative

Students compare the nominative and accusative forms.

Synonyms and how they differ

subject case

Subject case is a plainer name for the same grammar idea, used mostly in teaching English.

subjective case

Subjective case is the term more often used for English pronouns, while nominative is used across languages.

Opposites

Word family

nominative adjective

relating to the nominative case

nominate verb

to name someone for a role or prize

nomination noun

the act of proposing someone

case noun

a grammatical form showing a noun's role

Commonly confused: nominative case or accusative case? nominative case or nominal?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “nominative case”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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