What does accusative mean?
The accusative is a grammatical case found in many inflected languages, including Latin, German, Greek, and Russian, that typically marks the direct object of a verb — the person or thing receiving the action — as well as the objects of certain prepositions. A noun or pronoun in the accusative often takes a distinctive ending or form: Latin 'puella' (girl) becomes 'puellam' when she is the object of the sentence, and German's definite article shifts from 'der' to 'den'. The word can also function as an adjective, as in 'the accusative case' or 'an accusative construction'. Although English has largely abandoned case endings for nouns, a fossil of the accusative survives in its pronoun system: forms such as 'me', 'him', 'us', and 'them' descend from Old English objective cases. The term is chiefly encountered in language classrooms and linguistic scholarship rather than everyday conversation.
The grammatical case that typically marks the direct object of a verb, or the object of certain prepositions, in inflected languages.
"Students of Latin quickly learn to distinguish the nominative from the accusative when translating sentences."
Usually preceded by 'the'; commonly appears in the phrase 'in the accusative'.
Relating to or denoting the accusative case, as in 'the accusative form' or 'an accusative ending'.
"Russian adjectives must agree with their nouns in number, gender, and case, including the accusative."
Almost always used attributively, modifying grammatical terms such as 'case', 'form', or 'ending'.
The plural is rare and appears mainly in linguistic discussion, referring to multiple accusative forms across different words or languages.
"Comparing the accusatives of Latin and Ancient Greek reveals striking parallels between the two languages."
English lost its accusative centuries ago, yet it survives in our pronouns: every time you say 'him' instead of 'he' after a verb, you're using the ghost of the Latin accusative.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of accusative
Accusative derives from the Latin 'accusativus (casus)', literally 'the case of accusing', so called by ancient grammarians because the case was thought to mark the person or thing 'affected by' or 'called to account for' the action of a verb. It entered English in the mid-15th century via Anglo-Norman and Middle French scholarly usage, at a time when Latin grammar dominated European education. The root is the Latin verb 'accusare', meaning 'to call to account' or 'to accuse', which itself comes from 'ad-' ('toward') plus 'causa' ('cause, reason'). This makes 'accuse', 'accusation', and 'excuse' true etymological relatives, all descending from the same Latin source.
How accusative is actually used
A technical term used mainly in linguistics, grammar teaching, and language study; rarely encountered outside these contexts. In modern English grammar, the term 'objective case' is more common for describing pronouns, with 'accusative' typically reserved for highly inflected languages like Latin, German, and Russian. As an adjective, it usually appears attributively before nouns such as 'case', 'form', 'ending', or 'construction'.
Easily confused with accusative
Despite a superficial sound resemblance, 'abusive' means using harsh or insulting language, while 'accusative' refers to a grammatical case.