I have seen the three extant cases in English referred to with several different names. Which of these is most correct in describing the respective case?
- Nominative or subjective?
- Accusative, objective, or oblique?
- Genitive or possessive?
Asked
Active
Viewed 391 times
1
-
1I think you're a bit optimistic in assuming that people agree about a single "correct" answer to questions like these ... I've actually created a document recently to write my notes about grammar terminology, and variation seems to be the norm rather than the exception. Compare "(past) subjunctive" vs. "irrealis", "progressive" vs. "continuous, "perfect aspect" vs. "perfect tense", "future tense" vs. ... whatever non-future-tense proponents favor calling it (you can just say "future" or "future construction" of course, but I mean the category) – herisson Aug 28 '17 at 19:58
-
2In fact, not everyone agrees that English has three cases. Some argue that the Saxon possessive is not a case inflection, but a clitic; others argue that it is not a clitic, but an affix, and so on. See “The queen of England's crown” or “The queen's of England crown”? But such disputes are common in any scholarly field, and scholarly classification does not always inform popular usage. Consider the ways to classify Pluto. – choster Aug 28 '17 at 22:48
1 Answers
1
For consistency, though, use "nominative" with "accusative" and "genitive"; "subjective" with "objective" and "possessive." The two sets are from different analytical viewpoints and should not be mixed.
To inform your own choice, read analyses by people who use each set of terms and see which camp you would like to pitch your tent with.
Galfridus
- 108
- 4