The genitive case in English is a grammatical form for nouns, determiners, and pronouns that have a possessive relationship with another noun. For example, the genitive case of “Ava” is “Ava’s” in the phrase “Ava’s car,” which shows that Ava owns the car. The possession can be literal or metaphorical (e.g., “our friend” or “the apartment’s balcony”).
English nouns in the genitive case have apostrophes (e.g., “Molly’s guitar”). Genitive case also includes possessive determiners (e.g., “her guitar”) and possessive pronouns (e.g., “The guitar is hers”).
Genitive case examples
Possessive nouns
Possessive determiners
Possessive pronouns
The mayor’sEarth Day speech inspired us to plant a garden.
The apartment above the bookstore used to be ours.
Diana’s backyard has a 300-year-old tree.
The iced mocha latte boosted her energy.
Aaliya just left, so this jacket must be hers.
All of my friends’ dogs are sweet and lovable.
Jude and Tracey are super busy because their kids all play sports.
The artists said that those designs are theirs.
You can also use a noun phrase with “of” to show a possessive (or similar) relationship. For example, in “The balcony of the apartment was full of plants,” the balcony “belongs to” (or is part of) the apartment.
The following tips and examples show when the genitive case is necessary and how to use the different versions of the genitive case correctly.
NoteThe other two cases in English are nominative case (e.g., “I” and “they”) and objective case (e.g., “me” and “them”). All three cases affect the spelling of pronouns. However, only genitive case affects nouns.
In some languages, the accusative case is a grammatical case for the direct object of a verb. For example, in “I made two pizzas and baked them in the oven,” the pronoun “them” is the direct object of the verb “baked.” In English, the grammatical case for direct objects (as well as indirect objects and objects of prepositions) is called the objective case.
The term “accusative case” isn’t common in English because its three grammatical cases are nominative, genitive, and objective. In other languages (e.g., German and Russian), the accusative case is for direct objects, and the dative case is for indirect objects. In English, direct objects and indirect objects are both part of the objective case.
Learning about the objective case helps with correct pronoun usage. When a pronoun is a direct object, it must be an objective case pronoun (e.g., “her” or “me”). Nominative case pronouns (e.g., “she” or “I”) are not correct for direct objects.
Accusative case examplesJason invited us to Hawaii.
The dative case is the grammatical case for an indirect object—a noun or pronoun that receives a direct object. For example, in “Sally baked us a cake,” the indirect object “us” receives the direct object “cake.”
The term “dative case” isn’t a common grammar term in English because the three cases in English are nominative, genitive, and objective. The objective case in English includes the accusative caseanddative case, which are different in some languages (e.g., Latin and German), but not English.
Learning about the objective case helps you use pronouns correctly. When a pronoun is an indirect object (dative case), a direct object (accusative case), or the object of a preposition, it must be one of the objective case pronouns (e.g., “them” or “themselves”). Nominative case pronouns (e.g., “they”) are not correct in the objective case.
Dative case examplesPedro wrote Summer a note.
The realtor showed us three houses.
The bank loaned themmoney for a car.
Kamal’s parents threw him a huge party on his birthday.
The word above typically functions as a preposition or an adverb indicating a position or location that is “higher” than something else—physically, numerically, hierarchically, or figuratively.
Above examples in a sentenceI think the canned tomatoes are at the bottom, below the rice and flour.
She looked up at the grey clouds above.
You’re only allowed in if you’re 21 or above.
The position above mine has become vacant, so I’m going to apply for it.
Please see above for more details.
This is because he demands loyalty above all else.
Nominative case (aka subjective case) is one of the three cases for English nouns and pronouns, and it’s used for a subject or a predicate nominative. The nominative case pronouns (aka subject pronouns) are “I,” “we,” “she,” “he,” “it,” “they,” “you,” and “who.”
Nominative case examples
Nominative case nouns
Nominative case pronouns
Subject
Miley bought herself flowers.
She painted her nails bright red.
Predicate nominative
The student with the highest grade is Ben.
The best singers at karaoke last night were you and I.
Learning about nominative case helps you use the correct version of English nouns and pronouns (e.g., “I” or “me”). For example, when a pronoun is an object rather than a subject, it needs to be in the objective case (e.g., “me”). The following tips and examples show when the nominative case is necessary and how to use it correctly.
The word about can be a preposition meaning “concerning” or that indicates a topic or subject, as well as an adverb meaning “approximately” or “nearly.”
About examples in a sentenceI need to talk to David about the marketing budget.
A preposition of place (e.g., “in,” “on,” or “at”) begins a prepositional phrase that describes a location (e.g., “under the sofa”). The prepositional phrase shows where a noun or action from another part of the sentence is located in relation to the object of the preposition (e.g., “The sock was under the sofa”).
The location can be physical (e.g., “in Paris” or “on the table”) or abstract (e.g., “on the radio” or “in the TikTok video”).
The English language has at least 22 prepositions of place and detailed rules about which preposition to use with different types of locations.
The examples and practice exercises below will help you choose the right preposition of place in conversation and writing.
Prepositional phrases of place examples Maria left her wallet at home, so she couldn’t buy food at the store.
I read about the eclipse in the New York Times and on the internet.
The word by typically functions as a preposition, indicating who or what performs the action in a passive voice sentence, how something is done, and information such as locations, deadlines, and dimensions.
By examples in a sentenceThe carrots are chopped by this machine.
