Nominative Case
NOMINATIVE | CONJUGATED VERB | PREDICATE NOMINATIVE |
Find the Subject—Who or what is being described? | Find the Verb—Does the verb express a state of being? | If the verb expresses a state of being, find the predicate nominative or predicate adjective— What is renaming or describing the subject? |
To find the subject and verb, say: who/what + verb (who/what is/seems)
To find the predicate nominative or predicate adjective, say: verb + who/what (is who/what, seems what)
Examples:
LINKING VERB | SUBJECT | VERB | PREDICATE NOMINATIVE |
to be | Der Student Der Mann Die Studentin Die Frau | ist | mein Bruder. Arzt. meine Schwester. Ärztin. |
LINKING VERB | SUBJECT | VERB | PREDICATE ADJECTIVE |
to be | Der Mann Der Student Die Studentin Die Frau | ist | glücklich. sehr nett. wirklich froh. intelligent. |
to remain—Er/sie bleibt ein Träumer (dreamer) sein/ihr Leben lang.
to become—Der Student wird Arzt. Die Studentin wird Ärztin.
to seem—Sie scheint sehr glücklich.
to appear—Er sieht sehr glücklich aus.
