Accusative (thing)@Everything2.com

(After a large dose of Pop Rocks and caffeine, I've decided to continue with the ignoble task of imparting Ancient Greek grammar to Everything. Oh the shame, that I've taken four years of an entirely pointless and obscure language...)

The main use of the accusative case is as the direct object of a verb.
EX: Jane lit Bob the Troll on fire.
As we have direct objects in English, I'm not going to attempt to explain this any further. If you still can't figure it out, however please pound the keyboard with your forehead. Repeatedly.

Another use for the accusative is duration of time.
EX: The smell of burnt fur hung in the air for a long, long, time.
Surprisingly, this form of the accusative is actually found with time-defining particles and prepositions! The gods are occasionally merciful, it seems.
The next use is place to which, which is, thankfully, simple.
EX: Willard brought his monkey with him to the cricket game.
For another example, go to hell.

Another use is that oh so popular apposition.
EX: Rampaging Marxists attacked my cousin Vladimir.
I repeat, if you can't get this one, please stop reading these writeups.
The next use of the accusative is entirely too odd. the abovelinked "accusative with infinitive" is a very common construction in Greek, used for everything from temporal clauses to indirect statements. The accusative in such cases is turned into the subject of the dependent clause, and all words modifying that subject, be they adverb, adjective, or predicate complement, shift into the accusative.
EX: It is well known that the main reason people die is that they were born.
I know, I know, cheap shot for using a clause as a predicate complement, but it gets the point across. Besides, this is a sadly accurate reflection of what most Ancient Greek sentences were like. And I'm not even going to get into dactylic hexameter....

accusative with infinitive	Sanskrit Grammar: Noun Cases	When American writers use Latin, or other languages	Genitive
First Declension	Case	German Prepositions	dactylic hexameter
I vs. me	Latin	Accusative in German	Cambridge Latin Course
Fourth declension	Second Declension	Ablative Cheer	second person plural
Nominative	Apposition	unaccusative	French word order
Exceptional Case Marking	small clause	Unaussprechlichen Kulten	Sindarin nouns

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