Accusative case
The accusative case (Classical Greek: αἰτιατική; Modern Greek: αιτιατική; Latin: Accusativus) is one of the most common types of grammatical case. The nouns and pronouns that form the nucleus of the direct object of a sentence are typically in the accusative case; Furthermore, this case can have other uses that already vary greatly from one language to another.
The name “accusative case” (or “fourth case”) comes from the name causal by the early Greeks. Apolonio Díscolo saw that the accusative was not the case of the cause, but the case of the effect. The Romans, by false translation, gave it the name that is still valid today.
In the accusative one usually sees the expression of an immediate relationship between the verb and the object to which the verbal action refers, being, therefore, the case par excellence of the direct object.
Examples in different languages
Japanese
In Japanese, the accusative case is marked with the postponed particle "-(w)o" を; although it is transcribed as wo, it is usually pronounced [o], but can be heard as [wo] in songs or poems, and after a word ending in -n. This particle mainly identifies a direct object of transitive verbs:
- أعربية Русский
Latin
In Latin, the following particular uses of the accusative are distinguished, among others:
- Accusative name supplement.
- Exceptional fee
- Proleptic charges
- Qualification fee
- Extension fee
- Acute duration
- Preach or attachment
- Accreditation of address
- Double charge
- Neutral or adverbial charges
- Greek Acusative (relative or part)
Polish
The Polish language uses the accusative case. Examples of masculine nouns:
- Odebrałem Telephone - I took it. the phone (Nom. Telephone)
Examples of feminine nouns:
- Wypiłem filiżankę Herbaty - Bebí One cup tea (Nom. filiżanka)
- Piłem herbatę - I was drinking. tea (Nom. herbata)
Examples of neuter nouns:
- Zjadłem jabłko - I ate. an apple (Nom. jabłko)
- Stracił oko - Lost. One eye (Nom. oko)
Esperanto
In Esperanto, while plurality in a noun is indicated by its ending in -j (just like -s in Spanish), the accusative is indicates with the ending -n; but this is placed after the plurality indicative (if both are used in the same word). The direct object can appear at the beginning, middle or end of a sentence, and this in no way modifies the meaning, which is indicated by the accusative. But in fact, the different word orders can be used to give emphasis to the sentence.
Examples:
- My lavae. novajn tasojn. - I wash the new cups.
- La Novan tason Wash me. - The new cup I wash.
- La Novan tason My lavae. - The new cup I wash.
Russian
In Russian, the accusative is one of the six cases. It has the particularity that for a masculine or neuter noun, if it is animate (that is, person or animal, either proper or common name), the accusative form coincides with the genitive; ends in а or я (pronounced /ya/). Otherwise, it has the same form as the nominative. Feminine nouns mostly have the ending у or ю (pronounced /u/ or /yu/). In Russian there are no articles, hence the declension is always manifested in the endings of nouns and adjectives. Everything is declined: numerals, proper names, even foreign names are subject to the same rules.
German
In German there are four cases, the accusative being the fourth. The names do not inflect much, that is to say that the majority do not change their endings, as it happens in Latin or in Russian; it is the articles (definite and indefinite) that indicate the case. In any case, it is only the masculine article that changes when putting the noun in the accusative: nominative der Hund, accusative den Hund (the dog). The accusative is used as a direct object (I see the dog: ich sehe den Hund) and after certain prepositions. The most important use is as an answer to the question wohin? where: I go to the zoo: ich gehe in den Zoo.