science

Oblique case

Oblique case is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Oblique case rather than just read about it. In short: In grammar, an oblique (abbreviated obl; from Latin: casus obliquus) or objective case (abbr. obj) is a nominal case other than the nominative case and, sometimes, the vocative. A noun or pronoun in the oblique case can generally appear in any role except as subject, for which the nominative case is used.

Key takeaways

Oblique case belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Oblique case to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Oblique case from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In grammar, an oblique (abbreviated obl; from Latin: casus obliquus) or objective case (abbr. obj) is a nominal case other than the nominative case and, sometimes, the vocative. A noun or pronoun in the oblique case can generally appear in any role except as subject, for which the nominative case is used. The term objective case is generally preferred by modern English grammarians, where it supplanted Old English's dative and accusative. When the two terms are contrasted, they differ in the ability of a word in the oblique case to function as a possessive attributive; whether English has an oblique rather than an objective case then depends on how "proper" or widespread one considers the dialects where such usage is employed. An oblique case often contrasts with an unmarked case, as in English oblique him and them versus nominative he and they. However, the term oblique is also used for languages without a nominative case, such as ergative–absolutive languages; in the Northwest Caucasian languages, for example, the oblique-case marker serves to mark the ergative, dative, and applicative case roles, contrasting with the absolutive case, which is unmarked.

Hindustani

Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu) nouns, pronouns and postpositions decline for an oblique case which exclusively serves to mark the grammatical case roles using the case-marking postpositions. The oblique case has similarities with the vocative case in Hindustani. Some examples of the declension pattern are shown in the tables below:

Bulgarian Bulgarian, an analytic Slavic language, also has an oblique case form for pronouns: Dative role:

"Give that ball to me" дай тaзи топка на мен (day tazi topka na men) (This oblique case is a relic of the original, more complex proto-Slavic system of noun cases, and there are remnants of other cases in Bulgarian, such as the vocative case of direct address)

English An objective case is marked on the English personal pronouns and as such serves the role of the accusative and dative cases that other Indo-European languages employ. These forms are often called object pronouns. They serve a variety of grammatical functions which they would not in languages that differentiate the two. An example using first person singular objective pronoun me:

in an accusative role for a direct object (including double object and oblique ditransitives): Do you see me? The army sent me to Korea. in a dative role for an indirect object: Kim passed the pancakes to me. Kim passed me the pancakes. as the object of a preposition (except in possessives): That picture of me was blurry. (cf. double genitive as in That picture of mine was stolen.) in copular deixis: [referring to a photograph] This is me on the beach. in existentials (sometimes, but not always, replaceable by the nominative—in very formal style): It's me again. (cf. Once again, it is I. [formal]) Who is it?—It's me. (cf. It is I [to whom you are speaking].) It's me who should fix it. (cf. Since I made it, it is I who should fix it.) in a nominative role with predicate or verbal ellipsis: Who made this bicycle?—Me. (cf. Who made this bicycle?—I did.) I like him.—Hey, me too. (cf. I like him.—Hey, I do too.) Who's gonna clean up this mess?—Not me! in coordinated nominals: Me and him are going to the store. (only in colloquial speech) (cf. Is he going? Yes, he and I are going.) as a disjunctive topic marker: Me, I like French. The pronoun me is not inflected differently in any of these uses; it is used for all grammatical relationships except the genitive case of possession (in standard English) and a non-disjunctive nominative case as the subject.

It may also be used as a comedic stylistic effect of blatant error (nonstandard, pidgin, baby or foreigner talk or "broken English"): [spoken by Cookie Monster] Me so hungry. (the above example also employs copula deletion to similar effect)

French Old French had a nominative case and an oblique case, called cas sujet and cas régime respectively. In Modern French, the two cases have mostly merged and the cas régime has survived as the sole form for the majority of nouns. For example, the word "conte (count, earl)":

Old French: Nominative: li cuens (singular), li conte (plural) Oblique: le conte (singular), les contes (plural) Modern French: le conte (singular), les contes (plural) In some cases, both the cas sujet and cas régime of one noun have survived but produced two nouns in Modern French with different meanings. For example, today's copain means "friend" and compagnon means "companion", but in Old French these were different declensions of the same noun.

Kurdish Kurdish has an oblique for pronouns, objects, and for objects of izafe constructs.

See also Object pronoun, which in English take the oblique case Oblique argument Object (grammar) Subject pronoun Disjunctive pronoun Quirky subject

References

External links The dictionary definition of oblique case at Wiktionary

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Oblique case

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Oblique case claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Oblique case before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Oblique case ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Oblique case

In research: Oblique case appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Oblique case in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Oblique case is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Grammatical cases, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Oblique case outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Oblique case in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Oblique case means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Oblique case out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Oblique case in simple terms?

Why does Oblique case matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Oblique case?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Oblique case.