Nominative case

Level 2

The Adlıq hal (Nominative case) is the dictionary form of a noun. It has no suffix (Ø) and is the starting point for all other cases.

How It Works

The Nominative case (Adlıq hal) is the 'default' state of a noun. It has no specific case ending (zero affix Ø). While other cases also appear unmarked, the Nominative has specific syntactic roles.

Key Functions:

  • Subject: The person or thing performing the action. Example: Uşaq oxuyur (The child is reading).
  • Predicate Noun: Renaming the subject, often used with the assertive third person nominal ending. Example: Bu, kitabdır (This is a book).
  • With Postpositions (Nouns): Nouns use the Nominative case before postpositions like purpose üçün, similarity kimi, and instrumental ilə. Example: dostum üçün (for my friend). Note: Personal pronouns (except 'onlar') require the genitive case here, e.g., 'mənim üçün'.
  • Vocative: Used to address someone directly (e.g., 'Ana!' - Mother!).

Important Distinctions:
Learners should note that while the Nominative form is unmarked, two other functions look identical but are grammatically distinct:
1. Indefinite Object: A non-specific direct object (e.g., 'I bought a book') uses the indefinite accusative. Although it looks like the Nominative, it is technically a different case and must stay immediately before the verb.
2. Indefinite Genitive: In noun compounds like məktəb həyəti (school yard), the first word is in the genitive case but lacks a suffix. This is not the Nominative case.

Examples (5)

  1. Qardaşım universitetdə oxuyur.

    My brother studies at the university.

    Word by Word: Brother-my university-at studies.

    'Qardaşım' (my brother) is the subject of the sentence and is in the nominative case.

  2. O, çox yaxşı müəllimdir.

    He is a very good teacher.

    Word by Word: He, very good teacher-is.

    'Müəllim' (teacher) is a predicate noun renaming the subject 'O'.

  3. Mən dostum üçün hədiyyə aldım.

    I bought a gift for my friend.

    Word by Word: I friend-my for gift bought-I.

    'Dostum' is in the nominative case because it is used with the postposition 'üçün'.

  4. Bu kitab maraqlıdır.

    This book is interesting.

    Word by Word: This book interesting-is.

    'Kitab' is the subject being described by the adjective.

  5. Uşaqlar həyətdə oynayırlar.

    The children are playing in the yard.

    Word by Word: Children yard-in play-they-are.

    Even with the plural suffix '-lar', 'Uşaqlar' remains in the nominative case as the subject.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the bare noun for a specific known book.

    Different MeaningMən kitab oxuyuram.
    Mən kitabı oxuyuram.

    'Mən kitab oxuyuram' is a good sentence: 'I am reading a book (any book).' If you mean a specific, known book, use the definite accusative case: 'Mən kitabı oxuyuram.'

  • Confusing the subject and the object in SOV sentences.

    Alma uşaq yeyir.
    Uşaq alma yeyir.

    In Azerbaijani word order, the subject usually comes first. Since both 'uşaq' (child) and 'alma' (apple) are unmarked, swapping them changes the meaning to 'The apple eats the child'.

How It Connects

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Nominative caseLevel 2

Learn This First

The nominative case in Azerbaijani is the base form of the noun without any case suffixes. To understand it, a learner needs to be familiar with the basic alphabet to recognize noun stems and the standard word order to see how these unmarked nouns function as subjects or predicates.

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