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Case

Case is the FORM that a noun or pronoun takes to show its relationship to other words in a sentence.

English has three cases:

Nominative (subject)
OBJECTIVE
Possessive

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Noun cases

Noun forms are the same for nominative and objective cases.

NOM: The cannibal bit my arm off.
OBJ: I shot the cannibal.

Nouns change form in the possessive case by adding an apostrophe.
POSS: I toilet papered the cannibal’s house again.

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Pronoun cases

Pronouns change forms more often.

NOM: We slept in Mr. Bulgrien’s class.
She and Irving slept past the bell

OBJ: Mr. Bulgrien tried to rob US again.
He fistbumped Irving and HER.

POSS: Mr. Bulgrien stole OUR truck.
He sold THEIR phones on eBay.

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Case forms tell us the following:

Number – singular or plural

Person – 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd

Gender – Masculine, feminine or neuter

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The Nominative Case�(subjects & predicate nominatives)

SINGULAR
1^st I
2^nd you
3^rd he, she, it

PLURAL
1^st we
2^nd you
3^rd they

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Subjects & Predicate Nominatives…

are always in the NOMINATIVE form.

HE AND I will cut your car in half.
Mr. Smith said that I should leave.

The one with the highest grade is SHE.
It was I who made the comment.

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608: Exercise 1

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The Objective Case (DO, IO, & objects of prepositions)

SINGULAR
1^st ME
2^nd you
3^rd him, her, it

PLURAL
1^st us
2^nd you
3^rd THEM

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Direct objects, Indirect objects and Objects of prepositions…

are always in the OBJECTIVE form.

My English teacher robbed him and ME.

They talk about giving him and her my money.

Let’s pull a prank on Irving and HER.

Do you want to go with Irving and ME to see the movie Tenet?

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611: Exercise 2

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The Possessive Case

SINGULAR
1^st my, MINE
2^nd your, yours
3^rd his, her, HERS, its

PLURAL
1^st our, ours
2^nd your, yours
3^rd THEIR, theirs

By the way, these never have apostrophes:

your’s

her’s

it’s

our’s

their’s

It’s always means it is or it has.

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Some are used as pronouns

Pronouns REPLACE nouns or other pronouns.

mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs

Your car and MINE were stolen again.
We stole HERS yesterday.
Compared to YOURS, my dog smells good.

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Some are used as adjectives

Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.

These are still pronouns – they replace people’s names – but they are also used to modify a noun/pronoun in the sentence.

MY car is gone!
HER first attempt at robbery failed.
Do you remember OUR secret handshake?

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Don’t Give Up

This next part is not too hard for you.

He was eating popcorn.

They were reading most of the time.

These are verb phrases – the subject is doing or was doing those actions.
But sometimes we use ING words that are not verb phrases.

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Gerunds

A noun or pronoun in front of a gerund should be in the possessive case.

Remember this: Gerunds need to “strike out.”�
And these are the three strikes:

A gerund is

ends in –ING
is a verb form
and functions as a noun (it’s a thing)

You can replace it with IT or THAT

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Gerund examples

THEIR winning the game led to a celebration.

Winning is a thing; it is the subject.
IT led to a celebration.

My parents objected to MY working late.

They didn’t object to ME.
They objected to IT – working late.

We were thrilled by Irving’s scoring in the top 10.

Come up with a sentence of your own that uses a gerund.

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Present participles

Don’t confuse gerunds with present participles.

Present participles

end in –ING
are verb forms
but do not function as nouns (they aren’t things)

They can’t be replaced by IT

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Present participle examples

We found him sitting on a bench.

We found HIM. We didn’t find SITTING.
‘Sitting’ is not a thing. ‘Sitting’ describes a thing: ‘him.’

A shark ate my swimming coach.

Swimming is acting like an adjective (describing the coach).

Come up with a sentence of your own that uses a present participle.

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more examples

He/Him/His snoring kept me awake.

He/Him/His studying last week paid off.

We saw he/him/his eating in the cafeteria.

We saw he/him/his studying yesterday.

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614: Exercise 4

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Appositives

An appositive is a noun or pronoun placed beside another noun or pronoun to IDENTIFY or describe it.

An easy way to remember this:

appositives ADD information (positive +)

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Appositives

Nouns are simple, since they don’t change case.

My neighbors, the Jeffersons, stole my dog.

I really can’t stand my neighbors, the Jeffersons.

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Appositive examples

A pronoun used as an appositive is in the same CASE as the word it identifies.

My best friends, Irving and HE, robbed me yesterday.

“Irving and he” identifies my best friends, the subjects. So HE is in the nominative (SUBJECT) case.

My dad paid the two guys, Irving and HIM, to get my stuff back.

“Irving and him” identifies the two guys, the direct objects. So HIM is in the objective case.

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We/Us with appositives

When these have appositives, try each form without the appositive to see which case to use.

(We, Us) students learned many interesting things.

The counselor talked to (we, us) students.

Come up with a sentence of your own that uses an appositive involving a pronoun.

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Perhaps the most famous appositive:

We the People of the United States,

in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,

do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

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615: Exercise 5

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Pronouns in elliptical constructions

An elliptical construction is a word group from which words are MISSING.

We use these when making comparisons.

These usually begin with THAN or AS (could also be “like”).

I can read as fast as you (can).
See how CAN is missing? That’s what makes this an elliptical construction.

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Elliptical constructions

A pronoun in an elliptical construction is the same CASE as it would be if the construction were completed.

Most of us would say this:

I run as fast as him.

But complete the construction by adding the VERB from the beginning of the comparison:

I run as fast as him runs ???
Correct: I run as fast as he runs.
So it should be “I run as fast as HE.”

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More ellipticals

Irving is a better robber than ______

He IS a better robber than

I am / he is / she is / we are / they are.

Even my dog is smarter than ____

My dog is smarter than

I am / he is / she is / we are / they are.

Irving has as much money as ____

He has as much money as

I have / he has / she has / we have / they have.

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Different cases, different meanings

Dan misses New York as much as her.

Verb = misses. Put that after “as.”
Dan misses NY as much as (he) misses her.

Dan misses New York as much as she.

Verb = misses.
Dan misses NY as much as she misses (it).
Or “as much as she does.”

A Beatles song with this in it…

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Another example

Did Mr. Flint pay you as much as I?

Verb = pay.
Did he pay you as much as I paid (you)?

Did Mr. Flint pay you as much as me?

Verb = pay.
Did he pay you as much as (he) paid me?

Come up with a sentence of your own that uses an elliptical construction.

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616: Exercise 6

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Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

SINGULAR
1^st myself
2^nd yourself
3^rd himself, HERSELF, itself

PLURAL
1^st ourselves
2^nd yourselves
3^rd THEMSELVES

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Reflexive Pronouns Review

Reflexives refer to the subject of a verb and function as a complement (DO, IO, OC, PN, PA) or an object of a preposition.

Bill is not himself today. (PN)

I hurt myself. (DO)

Give yourself a pat on the back. (IO)

She would rather be by herself. (OP)

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Intensive Pronouns Review

An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent and has no grammatical function in the sentence.

My dad and I restored the car ourselves.

We didn’t restore ourselves.

Rather than forcing an underling to do it, I myself did the dirty work.

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-self & -selves pronouns must refer to something in the sentence

Irving and myself robbed another bank.

Myself doesn’t refer to anything in the sentence.
Correct: Irving and I robbed another bank.

“How are you?”�“OK. How about yourself?”

Yourself doesn’t refer to anything.
Correct: “How about you?”

Give these to Mr. Flint or (myself/me).

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618: Exercise 7

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Who and Whom

These are different cases.

Nominative: WHO whoever
Objective: whom whomever
Possessive: whose WHOSEVER

So “who” is for subjects and PNs
“Whom” is for DO, IO, OP

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Mr. Bulgrien’s method:

Nominative (subject) forms:

Singular: HE WHO (whoever)
Plural: they who (whoever)
Notice how they sound familiar.

Objective forms:

Singular: HIM WHOM (whomever)
Plural: THEM whom (whomever)
They sound familiar and have M’s.

Possessive forms:

Singular: HIS WHOSE (whosever)
Plural: Their whose (whosever)
They sound familiar and have Ss.

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How it works

When you have or need Who/Whom in a sentence:

1. Find the verb after it.

These almost always work with the verbs after them. If there isn’t one, then use the verbs available.

2. Put the subject of that verb first.

3. Try plugging in HE or HIM where you need who or whom.

4. If HE works, use WHO. If him works, use whom.

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Who/Whom examples

Who did you get to take care of your cats?

Verb = did get. Subject of that: YOU.
Put subject first and plug in he/him.
You did get (him) to take care of your cats?
So it should be “WHOM did you get…”

Whom gave us that stolen money?

V = gave. Subject = … not sure?
Plug in he/him → HE gave us that stolen money?
So it should be “WHO gave us…”

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Try these:

_____ did the experts recommend?
_____ took my Doritos?
You were arrested by ____?
The prize will go to ____-ever robs the most banks.
Yes, I am the one ____ cut your car in half.
____ do you think will win the Super Bowl?
Irving is ____ I think will be valedictorian.