We will understand how to determine the case of the adjective by the word with which it is grammatically related

Without adjectives, our language would be inexpressive and unemotional. It is this part of speech that is responsible for the fact that the named objects, faces, phenomena have acquired a detailed description, colors and awakened the imagination.

Adjective Features

In the text adjectives are most closely related to the noun and pronoun. This is the secret of how to determine the case of the adjective.

Let us recall some grammatical characteristics of this part of speech. It fits perfectly with other groups of words and therefore easily changes the case, gender, and number. The cases of the names of adjectives are always exactly the same as those of pronouns and nouns with which the adjective word agrees.

On cases

The Russian language knows six cases. Asking questions to them, we can mentally substitute for each his own verb. Each of the questions involves an animated object, about which one can say "someone", and an inanimate object - "something".

• Nominative case: (is) who? Or what?
• Genitive: (no) whom? Or what?
• Dative case: (give) to whom? Or what?
• Accusative: (blame) whom? Or what?
• The instrumental: (done and pleased) by whom? Or what?
• The prepositional case: (I think about, I am sure) whom? Or what?

Case-based questions are clear to us. But how to determine the case of the adjective, if to this part of the speech the question "what?" Is appropriate, and not "what?" Or "who?"?

If the sentence consists only of adjectives ...

Adjectives, even if they are used in a sentence without a noun or pronoun, still refer to these words. Let's compare two tiny passages: "The harsh broiler February was running out." / "February was running out. Severe, sluggish. " In the second passage, we see a sentence consisting of adjectives. However, we perceive them in the context of the previous sentence and we understand that both adjectives refer to the noun "February", as in the first passage. And with the noun we can easily determine the case of the question: what? - February, nominative n. Consequently, such are the cases of the names of adjectives relating to this noun.

The scheme for determining the case of adjectives

Let's take another example: "In the autumn garden there are already no fragrant and important peonies, but the eye rejoices with luxurious asters and dahlias." Using the consistency of the adjectives with nouns, we will not have difficulties with how to determine the case of the adjective in each case. Select the words "adjective + noun", then we ask the noun a question:

• In the autumn (in what?) Garden - this is a question of the prepositional case.
• Fragrant and important (what?) Peonies are a matter of the genitive case.
• Luxury (to what?) Asters and dahlias - the question of dative case.

We can conclude that the adjective "autumn" is in the prepositional case, the words "fragrant and important" are in the genitive, and the word "luxurious" resides in the dative case. By the same exact scheme it is possible to indicate the case of adjectives in the sentence "A gentle chime of blue bells and modest looks of touching daisies - these are the main signs of my rural summer." Let us now turn our attention to the way the question is changed, which we assign to the adjective in each case:

• (What?) Blue (what?) Bells are genus. P.;
• (What?) Gentle (what?) Chime - names. P.;
• (What?) Modest (what?) Looks - names. P.;
• (What?) Touching (what?) Daisies - will give birth. The case.

It will help to consider the case of the adjective table, in which we will represent the same adjective in combination with the pronoun and the noun.

We can see that in the adjectives characterizing an animated object, the question sounds the same in the nominative and accusative cases, and in the adjectives that refer to the animate object, the questions are similar in the genitive and accusative cases.

How not to confuse the nominative and accusative cases

Nouns and adjectives in the accusative describe objects that are supposed to be influenced by someone else's side. Then in the sentence there is or is meant the source from which the action is directed. It can be expressed by words from a group of nouns and pronouns in the nominative case, as well as verbs. Examples: "The leaders allowed the children to play (in what?) In the mobile (what?) Games in the open air." "He told about (what?) Distant (about what?) Countries." "Do not shoot (in what?) In defenseless (in whom?) Birds." "The athletes have created (what?) Great (what?) Conditions for training."

Special cases of spelling adjectives in different cases

Words that end in the singular on -y , and in the plural in -yi (sheep-sheep), retain in the singular before the end a soft sign in all cases, except for the nominative and accusative:

• Sheep - sheep.
• The p. P. Is sheep.
• D. p. - sheep.
• She is a sheep.
• T.p. - sheep.
• Petrograd - ov in sheep.

We found out how to determine the case of the adjective: by the case of the word to which this adjective refers. Also we have considered some difficult cases of spelling of adjectives in various case forms.