How many cases in English: features, rules and examples

The question of how many cases in Englishis used in written and oral speech, 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

To begin with, let's figure out what are thecases 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 must 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 case is common, called the 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 Russians:

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

But over time, changes in linguisticsmost 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 was greatly facilitated.

Common case

Discussing the topic of how many cases in Englishlanguage, it will be 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 should be noted that in the name ofnoun this distinction has no effect. 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.

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 enterprise) 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.

Here, on such simple examples, the difference inform 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, talking about how many cases in Englishlanguage, we pass 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:

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. 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, mother's bag - mother's bag, brother's book and so on. At the same time, it is the apostrophe that shows what and to whom belongs. If the noun is not alive, then the first variant is not used correctly, and an excuse comes to the rescue, for example: the door of the room, the part of the story etc.

Peculiarities of the case

Continuing to discuss how many cases in Englishlanguage, we must 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;
• if the 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 - Mom and Dad's room;
• If the noun is in the plural, only an apostrophe is added to it: sisters' dinner - sisters lunch.

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;
• city, country: Russian's industry - industry in Russia;
• newspapers, organizations: OBSCE's car - OSCE car;
• the words: nation, country, city, town, ship, car, boat, nature, water, ocean;
• months, seasons: winter's weather - winter weather;
• planet: 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.

The use of 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 action and transmits 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 passes the instrumental: She was killed with a knife. She was killed by a knife.
• The preposition by. Indicates who or what the action is committed: 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.