Nominative case facts for kids

The nominative case is a special way words change in grammar to show their job in a sentence. It's used for the subject of a sentence. The subject is the person or thing that does the action.

For example, in the sentence "The boy kissed the girl," "the boy" is the subject. He is the one doing the kissing. So, "the boy" would be in the nominative case.

What is the Nominative Case?

The nominative case is a grammatical case. A grammatical case tells you how a noun, pronoun, or adjective is used in a sentence. Think of it like a label that shows a word's role.

The nominative case specifically labels the subject. The subject is the main actor or topic of the sentence. It answers the question "Who or what is doing the action?"

Why is the Nominative Case Important?

In English, the nominative case is often simple. We don't change nouns much. For example, "cat" is "cat" whether it's the subject or not.

However, pronouns are different! Pronouns like "I," "he," "she," "we," and "they" are in the nominative case. They change form when they are not the subject. For example, we say "I like pizza," not "Me like pizza." "I" is the nominative form.

In other languages, like Latin, German, or Russian, many nouns and adjectives also change their endings for the nominative case. This helps you understand who is doing what, even if the word order changes.

Examples of the Nominative Case in English

Let's look at some examples to make it clearer:

• She sings beautifully.
  • "She" is the subject. She is doing the singing. "She" is in the nominative case.
• They play soccer every Saturday.
  • "They" is the subject. They are doing the playing. "They" is in the nominative case.
• The dog barked loudly.
  • "The dog" is the subject. The dog is doing the barking. "The dog" is in the nominative case.
• We are learning about grammar.
  • "We" is the subject. We are doing the learning. "We" is in the nominative case.

Notice how pronouns change:

• Nominative: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
• Not Nominative (Objective): me, you, him, her, it, us, them

So, you would say:

• He saw me. (He is the subject, nominative)
• I saw him. (Him is not the subject, objective)

Understanding the nominative case helps you use pronouns correctly in English. It also helps you understand how other languages work.

Images for kids

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  A friendly robot learning about grammar.