🍵 🐟 🏸 How many cases 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 are seriously engaged in the study of this subject. Now it has become a necessity to speak a foreign language. And to own it at a high level is possible only if you thoroughly study the grammatical features of the language. Here we need information on how many cases nouns in English have, how they are formed and when they need to be applied. This is what we are going to talk about in this article.

The concept of cases

To begin, let's look at what cases exist in the English language. The table, examples of use and translation options will not give us a full understanding of the topic, since everything is taken briefly, concisely and is designed for an experienced user. It is necessary to carefully study each case separately and to understand the similarity and difference from the cases in the Russian language. This is necessary to facilitate the assimilation of the material. So, in English there are two cases:

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

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

nominative;
genitive;
dative;
accusative;
instrumental.

But over time, changes in linguistics, most of the cases disappeared, only two remained. We deal with them to this day. This cannot but please the learners of the language, since the understanding and use of words in the sentence is greatly facilitated.

Common case

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

As the subject of the action, basically fulfilling the function of the subject in the sentence: The frog jumps high. He swims fast.
As an object of action, acting as a recipient. I gave it to the man. He called us at 4.

It should be noted that this distinction has no effect on the noun. It both stood in its form, and will stand in the same form. But the situation with pronouns is different. Their function 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.

Subject		An object
I	I bought a car. I bought a car.	me	He gave me a book. He gave me a book.
he	He bought a car. He bought a car.	him	He gave him a book. He gave him a book.
she	She bought a car. She bought a car.	her	He gave her a book. He gave her a book.
it	It bought a car. It (the company) bought a car.	it	He gave it a book. He gave him a book.
we	We bought a car. We bought a car.	us	He gave us a book. He gave us a book.
they	They bought a car. They bought a car.	them	He gave them a book. He gave them a book.
you	You bought a car. You (you) bought a car.	you	He gave you a book. He gave you (you) a book.

These simple examples show 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 determine in place in the order of words. This factor makes English one of the easiest to learn. In addition to the established word order, there are prepositions that help to understand what role a noun plays in a sentence.

For instance:

They made it with a knife. They made 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

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

Personal pronoun	Possessive pronoun	Example
I	my	John kissed my hand. John kissed my hand.
he	his	I saw his mother. I saw his mother.
she	her	He made her phone. He made her phone.
it	its	We looked at its window. We looked at his (factory) window.
we	our	Our city is big. Our city is big.
you	your	This is your school. This is your school.
they	their	All their toys are broken. All their toys are broken.

This is the case when it comes to pronouns. Nouns have a different picture. There are two options for expressing this case:

Using the apostrophe and ending -s.
Application of the preposition of.

If the noun is animate, then the first option applies. For example, mother’s bag is mother’s bag , brother’s book is brother’s book , etc. Moreover, it is the apostrophe that shows what belongs to whom. If the noun is not living, then using 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.

Features of the case

Continuing to discuss how many cases in the English language, we should not forget about the features and exceptions that English is so famous for. So, there are several nuances to keep in mind:

if the word consists of two or more parts, then the possessive ending will be added only to the last: passer-by's ticket - passer-by 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 - room of mom and dad ;
if the noun is in the plural, only the apostrophe is added to it: sisters 'dinner - sisters' dinner .

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 machine ;
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 ;
prevailing phrases.

Speaking about how many cases are in the English language, 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.

Application of prepositions

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

Preposition to. Shows the direction of 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 tool, and conveys instrumental case: She was killed with a knife. She was killed with a knife.
The preposition by. Indicates who or what takes place: They saw a bag carried by a man. They saw a bag carried by a man.

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