How many cases are in English: features, rules and examples

The question of how many cases in the English language is used in written and spoken language, arises more often among those who seriously engaged in the study of this subject. Now it became necessary to master a foreign language. And you can master it at a high level only if you thoroughly study the grammatical features of the language. Here we need information about how many cases have nouns in English, how they are formed, and when they need to be applied. This is exactly what we are going to talk about in this article.

The concept of cases

First, let's see what the cases are in English. The table, examples of usage and translation options will not give us a complete understanding of the topic, since everything is taken briefly, concisely and designed for an experienced user. We need to carefully study each case separately and understand the similarity and difference 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 common case is called Common Case.
2. The case is possessive, translated as Possessive Case.

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

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

But over time, changes in linguistics, most of the cases have disappeared, only two remain. We deal with them up to now. This can not but rejoice the students of the language, since the understanding and use of words in the sentence has been greatly facilitated.

Common case

Discussing the topic of how many cases in the English language, it is appropriate to start with a common case. This grammatical nuance does not affect the form of the word, but its meaning is so vague that words can be used in different situations and contexts. The general case has two applications:

1. As the subject of the action, basically performing the function of the subject in the 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 has no influence on the noun. It is as it stood in its form, and it will stand in the same form. But with pronouns, things are different. From what function they perform, they are an object or subject, their form also depends. This we will see clearly on the examples in the table.

Here, on such simple examples, one can see the difference in the form of pronouns. As for nouns, their form does not change. The meaning of the word and its relation to other words in the sentence we define by place in word order. This factor makes English one of the easiest to learn. In addition to the established order of words, there are also prepositions that help to understand what role the noun plays in the sentence.

For example:

• They made it with a knife. They made it with a knife. The preposition with helps to correctly define the function of the word "knife".
• He does not go to school. He goes to school. The preposition to also helps to interpret correctly the application of the word "school".

Possessive

Further speaking about how many cases in the English language, we turn to the second case - 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 when it comes to pronouns. Another picture for nouns. There are two ways of expressing this case:

1. Using an apostrophe and ending with -s.
2. Applying the preposition of.

If the noun is animate, then the first option applies. For example, a mother's bag is a mother's bag , a brother's book is a brother's book , etc. At the same time, it is an apostrophe that shows what and who owns it. If the noun is not alive, then the first option is incorrect, and an excuse 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.

Peculiarities of the case

Continuing to discuss how many cases are in English, we should not forget about the features and exceptions that the English language is so famous for. So, there are a few nuances about which you need to remember:

• If the word consists of two or more parts, then the possessive ending will be added only to the last: passer-by's ticket - the ticket of the passer-by ;
• If this form refers not to one but to several words, the ending will also be added at the end of the phrase: father and mother's room - room of mother and father ;
• If the noun is in the plural, only the apostrophe is added to it: sisters 'dinner is the 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 - industry in 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 - the light of Jupiter ;
• Existing phrases.

When speaking about how many cases 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

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

• The preposition to. Shows the direction of the action and passes the dative case: She goes to Mike. She goes to Mike.
• The preposition with. Used to show the use of a certain object or instrument, and transmits the instrumental: She was killed with a knife. She was killed by a knife.
• The preposition by. Indicates who or what the action is performed: They saw a bag carried by a man. They saw the bag that the man was carrying.

As you can see, with the help of such simple tricks the grammar of the English language manages to transmit all necessary information both in written and oral form.