The question of how many cases in English are used in written and spoken speech arises more often among those who are seriously engaged in the study of this subject. Now it has become a necessity to speak a foreign language. And you can master it at a high level only if you thoroughly study the grammatical features of the language. This is where we need information about how many cases nouns have in English, how they are formed and when they need to be used. That is what we are going to talk about in this article.
The concept of cases
First, let's figure out what cases exist in English. The table, usage examples and translation options will not give us a complete understanding of the topic, since everything is taken there briefly, concisely and designed for an experienceduser. It is necessary to carefully study each case separately and understand the similarities and differences from cases in Russian. This is necessary to facilitate the assimilation of the material. So, in English there are two cases:
- Common case, called Common Case.
- Possessive case translated as Possessive Case.
What is the case itself? This is a grammatical trick that helps express the relation of the noun to other words in the sentence. Initially, back in ancient English, there were several cases similar to Russian:
- nominative;
- genitive;
- dative;
- accusative;
- creative.
But over time, changes in linguistics, most of the cases disappeared, only two remained. We are dealing with them to this day. This cannot but please language learners, as the understanding and use of words in a sentence has become much easier.
Common case
When discussing the topic of how many cases there are in English, it would be appropriate to start with the common case. This grammatical nuance does not affect the form of the word in any way, while its meaning is so vague that words can be used in different situations and contexts. The common case has two uses:
- As the subject of the action, basically acting as the subject of the sentence: The frog jumps high. He swims fast.
- As the object of an action, acting as a receiver. Igave it to the man. He called us at 4.
It should be noted that this distinction has no effect on the noun. It has always stood in its form and will remain in the same form. But with pronouns, the situation is different. Their form depends on what function they perform, whether they are an object or a subject. We will see this clearly in the examples in the table.
| Subject | Object | ||
| I | I bought a car. I bought a car. | me | He gave me a book. He gave me a book. |
| he | He bought a car. He bought a car. | him | He gave him a book. He gave him a book. |
| she | She bought a car. She bought a car. | her | He gave her a book. He gave her a book. |
| it | It bought a car. It (the enterprise) bought the car. | it | He gave it a book. He gave him a book. |
| we | We bought a car. We bought a car. | us | He gave us a book. He gave us a book. |
| they | They bought a car. They bought a car. | them | He gave them a book. He gave them a book. |
| you | You bought a car. You (you) bought a car. | you | He gave you a book. He gave you (you) a book. |
Such simple examples show the difference in the form of pronouns. As for nouns, their form does not change. The meaning of a word and its relation to other words in a sentence are determined by their place in the word order. This factor makes English one of the easiest to learn. In addition to the established word order, there are also prepositions that help to understand what role a particular noun plays in a sentence.
For example:
- They made it with a knife. They did it with a knife. The preposition with helps to correctly identify the function of the word "knife".
- He goes to school. He goes to school. The preposition to also helps to correctly interpret the use of the word "school".
Possessive case
Next, speaking about how many cases there are in English, we move on to the second case - the possessive. Already from the name it becomes clear what question he answers: whose? whose? whose? whose? To indicate this pronoun, special possessive forms are used:
| Personal pronoun |
Possessive pronoun |
Example |
| I | my | John kissed my hand. John kissed my hand. |
| he | his | I saw his mother. I saw his mother. |
| she | her | He made her phone. He made her phone. |
| it | its | We looked at its window. We looked at his (factory's) window. |
| we | our | Our city is big. Our city is big. |
| you | your | This is your school. This is your school. |
| they | their | All their toys are broken. All their toys are broken. |
This is how things are when it comes to pronouns. Nouns have a different picture. There are two options for expressing this case:
- Using an apostrophe and ending -s.
- Using the preposition of.
If the noun is animate, then the first option applies here. For example, mother's bag - mother's bag, brother's book - brother's book, etc. At the same time, it is the apostrophe that shows what belongs to whom. If the noun is not alive, then using the first option is incorrect, and a preposition comes to the rescue, for example: the door of the room - the door of the room, the part of the story - part of the story, etc.
Case features
Continuing to discuss how many cases there are in English, we must not forget about features and exceptions,which the English language is so famous for. So, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- if the word consists of two or more parts, then the possessive ending will be added only to the last one: passer-by’s ticket;
- if this form refers not to one, but to several words, then the ending will also be added at the end of the phrase: father and mother's room - mom and dad's room;
- if the noun is in the plural, only an apostrophe is added to it: sisters' dinner - sisters' dinner.
Exceptions
There are a number of inanimate words to which it is possible to apply the possessive ending -s:
- measures of time and distance: today's bus - today's bus;
- cities, countries: Russian’s industry - Russian industry;
- newspapers, organizations: OBSCE’s car – OSCE car;
- words: nation, country, city, town, ship, car, boat, nature, water, ocean;
- months, seasons: winter’s weather - winter weather;
- planets: Jupiter's light - the light of Jupiter;
- established phrases.
When talking about how many cases there are in English, the number of exceptions should also be taken into account. This is the most important point. After all, everyone knows that it is not so important to learn the rule as its exceptions.
Using Prepositions
Also, English cases in practice help to express prepositions. There are some of the most popular suggestionswhich convey the meaning of the dative and instrumental cases.
- Preposition to. Shows the direction of action and conveys the dative case: She goes to Mike. She goes to Mike.
- Preposition with. Used to show the use of some object or tool, and conveys the instrumental case: She was killed with a knife. She was stabbed to death.
- Preposition by. Indicates who or what is doing the action: They saw a bag carried by a man. They saw the bag the man was carrying.
As you can see, with the help of such simple tricks, the grammar of the English language manages to convey all the necessary information both in writing and orally.
