Dative case in English. English cases in practice

Used in writing and oral speech, occurs more often among those who have seriously taken up the study of this subject. It has now become a necessity to own foreign language. And to own it high level This is only possible 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. This is exactly 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, examples of use and translation options will not give us a complete understanding of the topic, since everything there is taken briefly, condensed and designed for an experienced user. You need to carefully study each case separately and understand the similarities and differences from cases in the Russian language. This is necessary to facilitate the assimilation of the material. So, in English there are two cases:

1. The case is common, called Common Case.
2. The possessive case is translated as Possessive Case.

What is case itself? This is a grammatical trick that helps express the relationship of a noun to other words in a sentence. Initially, back in ancient English, there were several cases similar to Russian:

• nominative;
• genitive;
• dative;
• accusative;
• instrumental.

But over time, with changes in linguistics, most of the cases disappeared, leaving only two. We are still dealing with them to this day. This cannot but please language learners, as the understanding and use of words in sentences has become much easier.

Common case

When discussing the topic of how many cases there are in the English language, it would be appropriate to start with the common case. This grammatical nuance is not reflected in any way on the form of the word, and its meaning is so vague that the words can be used in different situations and contexts. The general case has two uses:

1. As the subject of an action, essentially serving as the subject of a sentence: The frog jumps high. He swims fast.
2. As an object of action, acting as a recipient. I gave it to the man. He called us at 4.

It is worth noting that this distinction does not have any effect on the noun. It stood in its form and will continue to stand in the same form. But with pronouns the situation is different. Their form also 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.

Like these simple examples you can see the difference in the form of the pronouns. As for nouns, their form does not change. We determine the meaning of a word and its relationship to other words in a sentence by its place in word order. This factor makes English one of the easiest languages ​​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 determine 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

Next, speaking about how many cases there are in the English language, we move on to the second case - the possessive. Already from the title it becomes clear what question it answers: whose? whose? whose? whose? To denote this pronoun, special possessive forms are used:

This is the case if we're talking about about pronouns. The picture is different for nouns. There are two options for expressing this case:

1. Use of apostrophe and ending -s.
2. Application of the preposition of.

If the noun is animate, then the first option applies here. For example, mother's bag, brother's book etc. Moreover, 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.

Features of the case

As we continue to discuss how many cases there are in the English language, we must not forget about the peculiarities and exceptions for which the English language is so famous. So, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• if a word consists of two or more parts, then the possessive ending will be added only to the last one: passer-by’s ticket - 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 plural, only an apostrophe is added to it: sisters’ dinner - sisters’ lunch.

Exceptions

There are a number of inanimate words to which the possessive ending -s can be applied:

• measures of time and distance: today’s bus - today’s bus;
• cities, countries: Russian’s industry - industry of Russia;
• 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 - light of Jupiter;
• established phrases.

Speaking 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: it is not so important to learn the rule as its exceptions.

Using prepositions

English cases also help express prepositions in practice. There are several most popular prepositions that convey the meaning of the dative and

• 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 a certain object or tool, and conveys the instrumental case: She was killed with a knife. She was killed with a knife.
• Preposition by. Indicates who or what is performing 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, English grammar manages to convey all the necessary information both in written and oral form.

English is the language of opportunity. Today, there is probably no country in which at least one person does not speak it. This is facilitated by its status as a world-class language.

Also among the main reasons:

• career growth;
• the desire to feel comfortable while traveling;
• the desire to improve oneself and develop one’s horizons;
• For some people, learning languages ​​is a hobby.

Every beginning Englishman sets a goal - to reach the highest level and become fluent in speaking. To do this, first of all, you need to perfectly know the rules for constructing sentences, tenses, as well as exceptions and much more.

English grammar presented big amount sections. But for those who are just beginning to take their first steps into the world of linguistics, we advise you to start from the very basics.

Key topics include parts of speech, tenses (past - Past, present - Present, future - Future), main and minor members of a sentence, their declension, etc.

Are there cases in English?

This question is probably asked by every person who begins to learn a language. Note that even the majority who speak foreign languages ​​at the Intermediate level will also not be able to answer quickly and confidently. In fact, English, like any other language, has a rich grammar in which this topic occupies a special place.

It is not one of the complex ones, but like all rules, it requires attentiveness and a special approach to memorizing and consolidating the material.

With the help of case, we can easily express the relationship of nouns and pronouns to other words in writing or colloquial speech. For the British big role What matters is the order in which the tokens appear.

Let's look at examples where the same words are used, but the meaning changes when they are rearranged:

• Granddaughter embraced her grandmother. – The granddaughter hugged her grandmother.
• Grandma embraced her granddaughter. – The grandmother hugged her granddaughter.

It is thanks to the order that the main and minor members of a sentence are determined. If we turn to Old English, then the meaning of the construction depended not on the sequence, but on the endings formed with the help of declension.

So how many cases are there in English and how are they formed? You will find the answer to this question in our article. It is common for us to talk about declension in six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental and prepositional. And this is reflected in Old English. It presented the first five titles, which were formed according to the questions well known to us: who/what? who/what? to whom; to what? who/what? by whom/what?

Currently the British use only three cases:

• general (subjective);
• object;
• possessive.

Let's look at each type separately to understand their purpose, shape, and understand when their use is appropriate.

The first type of classification applies to both nouns and pronouns, which act as subjects or objects in a sentence. However, they do not change their grammatical form. The subject is not declined and is indicated in its original form. If compared with Russian grammar, it is placed in the nominative case.

The girl(general case/Subjective Case) found the ring. - The girl found a ring.

When acting as a direct object, words are declined according to the accusative case, and in the case of an indirect object, according to the dative case.

Grandmother gave a pie(direct object) to her granddaughter (indirect object). – The grandmother gave the pie to her granddaughter.

The objective case refers exclusively to pronouns. Here we are talking about the accusative declension.

She helped me(Objective Case). - She helped me.

To use words in the correct form, you need to remember the topic “Possessive Pronouns”. It is in this form that they will be used.

And the last point of the classification is Possessive Case. IN modern language words in this form are used extremely rarely, but they raise many questions if the need nevertheless arises to use them. Such lexemes are formed using inflections and indicate the belonging of a thing, etc. Formation occurs by adding a noun or pronoun, an apostrophe and “s”.

Alexander's book. - Book of Alexander.

Sometimes there is a misunderstanding in which cases such a prefix denotes belonging, and in which – the plural. With time and practice, you will easily understand the semantics of a sentence and put words in the correct form.

To make it easier for you to remember the relationship between English and Russian cases, we have compiled a table for you. Use it to compose sentences and you will easily navigate word formation depending on case.

Table with examples of cases in English.

The simplicity of the English language lies in the fact that, unlike other languages, English nouns do not change by case. More precisely, in English there are two whole cases (general and possessive), but everything is much more simpler than that, what we are used to when studying 6 Russian cases in primary school. Therefore, the case of a noun in English is determined extremely simply.

Common case

In this case, English nouns do not change and no endings or suffixes are added to them. In this case, a noun can play completely different roles in a sentence (subject, direct, indirect and prepositional object, attribute). No matter in what capacity the noun is used, it will look the same.

He reads a book.
She goes to the school.
The plate is on the table.

The only difficulty that may arise when using the common case is the use of the correct prepositions. When a noun acts as a subject or direct object, they are not required. In other cases, sometimes you will have to think about what preposition should be used in this or that case. That is, if in Russian the connection of nouns with other words is expressed by changing endings (in different cases - in different ways), then in English, when declension of a noun, the endings are always the same, and the connection with other words is conveyed using various prepositions.

Dative(To whom? To what? Where?) is conveyed in English using the preposition to:

Emma goes to school every day.— Emma goes to school every day.
Give it to me. - Give me that.

Instrumental case depending on the situation, it can be expressed using with, by and some other prepositions.

I wrote this text with the pen. — I wrote this text with a pen.
Come with me. - Come with me.

Possessive case of nouns in English

The possessive case of a noun in English can be a little difficult to learn at first, but if you understand the basic rules from the very beginning, then everything will seem very simple in the future.

Main feature: possessive is formed using a simple “‘s” construction, which is added to each “owner”. That is, the one who owns something. You already know that possessive pronouns express the ownership of something by certain persons - me, you, him, her, and so on. Here the situation is somewhat different - we know a specific person. That is, my mother's house will be translated as " my mother 's house ". Pretty simple, right? In fact, this is what we are used to Genitive. Who's house? Moms.

For example:

cat's fur- cat fur
women's cars- women's car

If you read textbooks or articles on the Internet, then in most cases you will see an indication that the possessive case in English using the construction 's only possible for animate nouns. Inanimate forms form the genitive case only with the help of the preposition " of". However, if you dig deeper and ask English speakers themselves, they don’t see any particular crime in what you, for example, say “ the book's cover", but not " the cover of the book". There is an opinion that people for whom English is not their native language often overdo it with the formation of the possessive case using a preposition and, conversely, use the possessive form too rarely 's.

According to some sources, the prohibition on the formation of the genitive case using 's in inanimate nouns is no longer supported by speakers. However, in England this is stricter than in the USA. But in any case, you shouldn’t bother with this if you’re just starting to learn the language. Over time, listening to English speech often, you will figure out what's what. And asking native speakers themselves is not so difficult.

Here are some examples of forming the genitive case using “‘s” for inanimate nouns:

Everest's peak- summit of Everest
Earth's climate— Earth's climate
Moscow's life— Moscow life
England's football team- England national football team
The Times' article- The Times article
today's schedule- schedule for today
the summer's heat- summer heat
the car's engine- car engine

But keep in mind that sometimes you can do without adding 's. This happens when the first word is a definition. For example, in the last two words you can also say: “ the summer heat" And " the car engine«.

By the way, in addition to adding “s” and an apostrophe to a word, the genitive case can also be obtained using the preposition “of,” as you might have guessed. And this applies not only to inanimate objects.

The possessive case of nouns in English has another feature. If a word is plural and ends in “s”, then instead of 's only an apostrophe is added ‘ . This way we can distinguish when writing about how many persons we're talking about, and it’s more convenient to pronounce without doubling. However, if you look at singular words ending in “s”, this rule does not apply to them. Even a word like boss (with two “s” at the end!) gets another “s” in addition, only with an apostrophe.

Finally, I will give examples that will allow you to understand how to use correctly 's when forming the possessive case with different types nouns

Noun case in English, which has any differences in education, in fact, there is only one. You definitely need to know it. You probably noticed that there were no difficulties in this lesson. Therefore, I hope that you have mastered the material and can now easily apply it in practice.

We are accustomed to the fact that in Russian it is enough to inflect a word by case, thereby forming the context we need. But what to do in a similar situation with English, where there is practically no case system? Firstly, here the syntactic meaning of a word is always determined by its place in the sentence. And secondly, there are as many as three case categories, but not all of them play a really significant role. In today's material we will look at how cases are formed in the English language, what parts of speech they correspond to, and what function they perform.

First, let's find out what this section of grammar is. Case is a term denoting the syntactic role of a member of a sentence or the semantic meaning of a word in a phrase. In simple terms, case determines the dependence of one word on another. The corresponding case in the sentence expresses the subject, object, definition.

Russian grammar allows this term to be applied to a noun, pronoun, adjective, participle, numeral. But in English, cases can only occur in two parts of speech: nouns and pronouns. Moreover, they bring more changes to the class of pronouns. Let's look at the English case system.

Cases in English

Since English uses a fixed word order, the role of cases is somewhat confused and is not always actively expressed. But this is not a reason not to consider their construction and use. On the contrary, to confidently use the language you need to be able to work with any grammatical structures, and the category of case is no exception. Let's ask ourselves: how many cases are there in English? Officially there are three, but only two are identified. We will analyze the three-level classification.

Subjective category

Translated into Russian, this is the most common nominative case, which emphasizes that the noun/pronoun acts as the subject. This grammatical construction is not distinguished by anything remarkable: both nouns and pronouns are used in it in their usual dictionary form.

• She is my best friend –ShemybestFriend.
• Peter is a clever boy –Peter -smartboy.
• Children read the book –Childrenreadbook.

The second case in English is much more unique.

Objective category

This is the so-called indirect case. In this case, nouns/pronouns are not active persons/objects, but objects of these actions. Accordingly, in a sentence this construction is associated with the role of a complement.

When translated into Russian, depending on the context, words can be put in the genitive, dative, propositional and accusative case. It is noteworthy that nouns still do not change their construction, and most personal pronouns receive a completely new form.

The pronoun who (who?) also undergoes changes, which turns into whom (whom? to whom?).

• Give me a pen, please –Giveto me,Please,handle.
• I told them the truth –Isaidthemthe truth.
• The boy bought a ball – Boyboughtball.

In the case of nouns, these two case categories are combined into one common case, because no changes occur in their composition anyway, and the syntactic role in to a greater extent always determined by the location of the word. A separate and most specific case is the third group.

Possessive category

The most important type of case in English . It is a significant construction that not only expresses the role of a noun/pronoun, but also changes its composition.

The class of pronouns is also being transformed into new forms.

The task of these forms and endings, as well as this case group as a whole, is to show belonging to someone or possessing something, as well as to describe and tell what kind of persons/objects they are. Parts of speech of this category always appear before the word being defined, which means that it finally controls the position of the member of the sentence. And this is another exceptional feature of this category.

• This is Liz' s mirror –ThisLizinomirror.
• These are mine children 's pictures –Thesedrawingsmychildren.

Accordingly, the syntactic role of such constructions is definition.

And last important nuance this group: as a rule, possessive endings are attached only to the animate class of nouns. But there are exceptions to this law. Let's take a closer look at them.

Grammar note: in constructions related to dedication, the erection of something in honor of someone, the possessive form is not used: theLermontovmonument.

It is noteworthy that in addition to its own case system, English grammar has other possibilities for declension of a noun. Next, we will learn how to form cases in English using function words.

Prepositions as cases

Prepositions and cases actually have a lot in common even in Russian. Remember that many of them are used only with certain cases and are unique markers of these cases. But prepositions in English not only indicate case, but also help form it. Let's consider such cases at specific examples, and the table below will help us with this.

Now we've sorted it all out possible ways declination English words. Having mastered this material, we not only learned to put nouns into the correct form, but also became acquainted with many frequently occurring stable constructions. This means that with each lesson we become more and more aware of the nuances of English speech. See you in new classes!

And numerals, which serve to connect words in a sentence. But cases in English, which are variants of the same word (word form), still exist. Fortunately, there are only 3 of them: objective, subjective and possessive. Let's talk about each one of them. C'mon.

Subjective and objective cases in English

To understand the concept of the objective case, we will have to go back in time and recall a little the school course of the Russian language. We all remember that the subject is a word in the nominative case. As for the rest of the nouns and pronouns in the sentence, they will most often be objects. In English everything follows the same principle. A pronoun or noun is either the subject ( subject), or an addition ( object). Recall that the subject answers the question “who?” So what"? (Nominative case). It's easy to guess that subject will stand in subjective case, A additions- V objective case.

A man saw a dog near a building.

There are 3 nouns in this sentence: a man, a dog and a building.
At the first place, as always, is subject for which it is used subjective case in English. Followed by addition a dog, which, accordingly, is in objective case. As can be seen from the example, the form of the noun has not changed.

Object case for pronouns

With nouns everything is simple - they do not change their form for both cases (subjective and objective). But pronouns have their own special form in case they do not take the place of the subject:

I saw him, and he saw me.

Possessive case in English

If everything is more or less clear with the subjective and objective cases, since they correspond to the case forms of the Russian language, then we do not have the possessive case. We answer questions of belonging (“whose?”, “whose?”, “whose?”, “whose?”) with an adjective. And in English this function is performed by the category of case of nouns and pronouns.

However, the implementation of the possessive function will be different for nouns and pronouns.

To indicate ownership of nouns, use "" s“Moreover, the ending is added to the noun to which something belongs.

This is my mother's bag
This is mom's bag.

If noun ends with hissing or " s", then they simply add apostrophe :

I"ll take my parents" car.
I'll take my parents' car.

It should be distinguished possessive «" s» from verb abbreviations « is» — «" s».

I like John's new blazer.

Whose new blazer is it? Jonah, that's why John's — possessive noun John.

I think John's right.

What is John doing? Is right, so John's — reduction from John is right.

Now let's look at some special cases of using the possessive ending "" s»:

• If the plural form of a noun ends not on « s", then we use full version possessive ending - apostrophe + « s": mouse - mice. The main character is mice"s King. - Main character- King of mice.
• In English there are compound nouns consisting of several words. As a rule, they are written with a hyphen. to such words "" s" is added after the last word:We all waited for The-Boy-Who-Lived's speech.- We were all waiting for the speech of the boy who lived.

The possessive case of inanimate nouns is formed using the preposition “ of", not endings "" s" (the headquarter of the company). But there are exceptions for:

• Planets - Jupiter's size.
• Newspapers and organizations - Times's editor UNESCO's operation.
• Distances and times - ten meter"s height,a minute"s business.
• Seasons and months - summer's sadness July's hit.
• Cities and countries - Minsk's Main Square, Russian"s elite force.

Words like nature, ship, nation, country,car, water, city, boat, ocean and town - ship's crew, nation's pride car's engine etc.

Pronouns to express belonging also have their own form:

My son is the smartest in his class.
My son is the smartest in his class.

As can be seen from the example, a possessive pronoun must be followed by a noun. However, pronouns have an absolute form, which allows them to be used without a noun or in a different position (not just in front).

He was a friend of mine.
He was my friend.

Where are your socks? -I don't know, but yours are there.
Where are your socks? - I don’t know, but yours are there.

That's all absolute forms of possessives pronouns:

Got me thinking... Who am I writing this to? It was not enough to become a schizo. I’d better go spin the slots ----------

Conclusion

Cases in English perform slightly different functions than in Russian. This can cause difficulties when translating and trying to express your thoughts. But there are only three of them, and the method of formation is easier than in the Russian language - you do not need to remember the spelling of endings, based on such complex concepts as declension, gender and number.

To improve your skills in using English cases, as well as practice using them and clarify the remaining nuances, use the services of an online tutor. It's quick, simple and doesn't even require you to leave your home. Try it ;)

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