6.1 - Introduction to cases

Name of case

Ukrainian name

Function

Nominative

Називний

Subject of the sentence; "doer" of the action.

e.g. The caller put down the phone. Who put down the phone? The caller.

Genitive

Родовий

Denotes possession; "of"; " 's".

e.g. This is Robert's house. Whose house? Robert's.

e.g. We saw the committee's report. Whose report? The committee's (of the committee).

Dative

Давальний

Indirect object, e.g. giving, showing, telling to (someone or something).

e.g. The assistant gave the goods to the client. To whom did the assistant give the goods? To the client.

Accusative

Знахідний

Direct object; the focus of the action of the verb.

e.g. We saw the film yesterday. What did we see? The film.

Instrumental

Орудний

Denotes "by means of", "through the agency of", "with".

e.g. Ian went to the concert with Helen. With whom did Ian go to the concert? With Helen.

e.g. I repaired my watch with a screwdriver. With (by means of) what did I repair my watch? With a screwdriver.

Locative

Місцевий

Denotes the place where someone or something is or happens.

e.g. He lives in Leicester. Where does he live? In Leicester.

Vocative

Кличний

Used when calling, greeting or addressing someone.

e.g. Hello, Sophie!

Dear Alex, (when writing a letter)

Well done, Mr. Brown!