oblique case

9.9

A form of a noun used as an object or after a preposition

noun
/əˈblik keɪs/

Specialized

: caso oblicuo

In Latin, the oblique case is used to mark objects and other grammatical roles besides the subject.

Examples

Hindi has an oblique case that governs how nouns change with certain postpositions.
Students had to identify which nouns were in the oblique case in the given sentence.
The oblique case is important.
In Latin, we study the oblique case.
In Latin, the accusative is an example of an oblique case that indicates the object of a verb.
Many languages use the oblique case to show relationships between nouns and other parts of speech.
When learning about grammar, it is important to understand how to use the oblique case in sentences.

Synonyms

oblique

vsoblique case

Specialized

9.5

Any noun or pronoun form used for a role other than the subject

marks roles like object of a verb or after a preposition

Surface Forms

oblique case singular

oblique cases plural

Morphology

oblique + case

The phrase is compositionally clear: 'oblique' denotes a non-subject grammatical role and 'case' denotes an inflectional category, so together they mean a grammatical case marking non-subject functions. Although technical, this meaning follows standard morphological composition and has clear parallels in many languages, making it understandable to a learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Oblique case comes from oblique, a word that meant 'slanting' or 'at an angle', creating the picture of a noun turned to the side. Nouns in the oblique case are the ones not acting as the 'subject' but as the 'object' or used after words like 'to' or 'with', so the name helps show why it marks these other roles.