nominative

Meanings

1. 1adjectivebefore a nountechnical

   Relating to the grammatical case that marks the subject of a verb.

   Grammar: Used before a noun: 'nominative case', 'nominative pronoun'.

   Patterns

   • nominative case
   • nominative pronoun

   In 'She runs', the pronoun 'she' is in the nominative case.

   English has very few nominative forms left; 'I', 'he', 'she', 'we', and 'they' are examples.

   The teacher explained the difference between nominative and accusative pronouns.

2. 2nouncountabletechnical

   The grammatical case that shows the subject of a verb, or a word in that case.

   Grammar: Countable; often used with 'the': 'the nominative'.

   Patterns

   • the nominative
   • in the nominative

   In Latin, the nominative is used for the subject of a sentence.

   The word 'who' is the nominative form, while 'whom' is the objective form.

   Students often confuse the nominative with the accusative.

Common combinations

nominative case

The nominative case is used for the subject of a verb.

nominative pronoun

'I' is a nominative pronoun; 'me' is an objective pronoun.

in the nominative

In Russian, the word for 'book' appears in the nominative when it is the subject.

Synonyms and how they differ

subjective

In grammar, 'subjective case' is another term for nominative case, but 'nominative' is more common in language learning.

Opposites

Word family

nominate verb

To suggest someone for a job, position, or award.

nomination noun

The act of officially suggesting someone for a position or award.

nominative noun

The grammatical case itself, or a word in that case.

Commonly confused: nominative or nominal? nominative or nominated?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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