Phrase guide

nominative case

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈnɑm(ɪ)nətɪv keɪs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈnɒm(ɪ)nətɪv keɪs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪs

1

noun

Meaning 1

The case used to indicate the subject—or agent—of a finite verb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The subject of a verb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the category of nouns serving as the grammatical subject of a verb

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nominative, subject case

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: case, grammatical case

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

112 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: nominatief — case used to indicate the subject
  • Afrikaans: eerste naamval — case used to indicate the subject
  • Albanian: emërore — case used to indicate the subject
  • Arabic: حَالَةْ اَلرَّفْع (ḥālat ar-rafʕ) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Arabic: مَرْفُوع (marfūʕ) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Armenian: ուղղական հոլով (uġġakan holov) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Armenian: ուղղական (uġġakan) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Asturian: nominativu — case used to indicate the subject
  • Azerbaijani: adlıq hal — case used to indicate the subject
  • Belarusian: назо́ўны склон (nazówny sklon) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Bulgarian: имени́телен паде́ж (imenítelen padéž) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Carpathian Rusyn: номінатів (nominativ) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Catalan: cas nominatiu — case used to indicate the subject
  • Catalan: nominatiu — case used to indicate the subject
  • Chechen: цӏерниг дожар (cʼernig dožar) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Chinese Mandarin: 主格 (zhǔgé) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Czech: nominativ — case used to indicate the subject
  • Czech: první pád — case used to indicate the subject
  • Danish: nominativ — case used to indicate the subject
  • Dutch: eerste naamval — case used to indicate the subject
  • Dutch: nominatief — case used to indicate the subject
  • Erzya: лемдиця (lemdića) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Esperanto: nominativo — case used to indicate the subject
  • Estonian: nimetav kääne — case used to indicate the subject
  • Estonian: nominatiiv — case used to indicate the subject
  • Faroese: hvørfall — case used to indicate the subject
  • Finnish: nominatiivi — case used to indicate the subject
  • Finnish: nimentö — case used to indicate the subject
  • French: nominatif — case used to indicate the subject
  • Old French: nominatif case — case used to indicate the subject
  • Old French: nominatif — case used to indicate the subject
  • Galician: nominativo — case used to indicate the subject
  • Georgian: სახელობითი (saxelobiti) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Georgian: სახელობითი ბრუნვა (saxelobiti brunva) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Georgian: ნომინატივი (nominaṭivi) — case used to indicate the subject
  • German: Nominativ — case used to indicate the subject
  • German: Werfall — case used to indicate the subject
  • German: Wer-Fall — case used to indicate the subject
  • Greek: ονομαστική (onomastikí) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Ancient Greek: πτῶσις ὀνομαστική (ptôsis onomastikḗ) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Ancient Greek: ὀνομαστική (onomastikḗ) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Ancient Greek: εὐθεῖα πτῶσις (eutheîa ptôsis) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Ancient Greek: εὐθεῖα (eutheîa) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Ancient Greek: ὀρθή (orthḗ) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Gujarati: પહેલી વિભક્તિ (pahelī vibhakti) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Gujarati: પહેલી (pahelī) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Gujarati: પ્રથમા વિભક્તિ (prathmā vibhakti) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Gujarati: પ્રથમા (prathmā) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Hebrew: נושא (nosé) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Hungarian: alanyeset — case used to indicate the subject
  • Icelandic: nefnifall — case used to indicate the subject
  • Ingrian: nominativa — case used to indicate the subject
  • Irish: ainmneach — case used to indicate the subject
  • Old Irish: ainmmnid — case used to indicate the subject
  • Italian: nominativo — case used to indicate the subject
  • Japanese: 主格 (shukaku) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Kalmyk: нерәдгч киисквр (nerädgç kiiskvr) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Kashubian: nominatiw — case used to indicate the subject
  • Kashubian: nazéwôcz — case used to indicate the subject
  • Korean: 주격 (jugyeok) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Northern Kurdish: rewşa navkî — case used to indicate the subject
  • Kyrgyz: атооч жөндөмө (atooc jöndömö) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Latin: cāsus nōminātīvus — case used to indicate the subject
  • Latin: nōminātīvus — case used to indicate the subject
  • Latin: cāsus rēctus — case used to indicate the subject
  • Latvian: nominatīvs — case used to indicate the subject
  • Lithuanian: vardininkas — case used to indicate the subject
  • Malay: kes nominatif — case used to indicate the subject
  • Mongolian: нэрлэхийн тийн ялгал (nerlexiin tiin jalgal) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Mongolian: нэрлэх (nerlex) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Mongolian: ᠨᠡᠷᠡᠯᠡᠬᠦ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠲᠡᠶᠢᠨ ᠢᠯᠭᠠᠯ (nerelekü-yin teyin ilɣal) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Mongolian: ᠨᠡᠷᠡᠯᠡᠬᠦ (nerelekü) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Norwegian Bokmål: nominativ — case used to indicate the subject
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: nominativ — case used to indicate the subject
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: nemnefall — case used to indicate the subject
  • Persian: حالت نهادی (hâlat-e nahâdi) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Polish: mianownik — case used to indicate the subject
  • Portuguese: caso nominativo — case used to indicate the subject
  • Portuguese: nominativo — case used to indicate the subject
  • Romanian: caz nominativ — case used to indicate the subject
  • Romanian: nominativ — case used to indicate the subject
  • Russian: имени́тельный паде́ж (imenítelʹnyj padéž) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Northern Sami: nominatiiva — case used to indicate the subject
  • Scottish Gaelic: tuiseal ainmneach — case used to indicate the subject
  • Scottish Gaelic: ainmneach — case used to indicate the subject
  • Serbo-Croatian: но̏минатӣв — case used to indicate the subject
  • Serbo-Croatian: пр̀ви па́деж — case used to indicate the subject
  • Serbo-Croatian: nȍminatīv — case used to indicate the subject
  • Serbo-Croatian: pr̀vi pádež — case used to indicate the subject
  • Slovak: prvý pád — case used to indicate the subject
  • Slovak: nominatív — case used to indicate the subject
  • Slovene: imenovalnik — case used to indicate the subject
  • Spanish: caso nominativo — case used to indicate the subject
  • Spanish: nominativo — case used to indicate the subject
  • Swedish: nominativ — case used to indicate the subject
  • Tamil: முதல் வேற்றுமை (mutal vēṟṟumai) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Tamil: எழுவாய் வேற்றுமை (eḻuvāy vēṟṟumai) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Tamil: எழுவாய் (eḻuvāy) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Telugu: ప్రథమా విభక్తి (prathamā vibhakti) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Thai: กรรตุการก (gà-dtù-gaa-rók) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Turkish: yalın hâl — case used to indicate the subject
  • Turkish: ismin yalın hâli — case used to indicate the subject
  • Ukrainian: називний (nazyvnyj) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Uyghur: باش كېلىش (bash këlish) — case used to indicate the subject
  • Vietnamese: nguyên cách — case used to indicate the subject
  • Vietnamese: danh cách — case used to indicate the subject
  • Vietnamese: cách tên — case used to indicate the subject
  • Vietnamese: chủ cách — case used to indicate the subject
  • Volapük: kimfal — case used to indicate the subject
  • Volapük: nominatif — case used to indicate the subject
  • Welsh: goddrychol — case used to indicate the subject
  • Zazaki: halo raşt — case used to indicate the subject