Oblique Case

In grammar, an oblique case (abbreviated OBL; Latin: casus generalis) is a noun (or pronoun) case that is used when the noun or pronoun is the object of either a verb or a preposition. A (pro)noun in the oblique case can generally appear in any role except as subject, for which the nominative case is used. The term is occasionally contrasted with the objective case, which is used for objects of verbs and of prepositions, but not for genitive relations between nouns.

An oblique case often contrasts with an unmarked case, as in English oblique him and them vs. nominative he and they. However, the term oblique is also used for languages without a nominative case, such as ergative–absolutive languages; in the Northwest Caucasian languages, for example, the oblique-case marker serves to mark the ergative, dative, and applicative case roles, contrasting with the absolutive case, which is unmarked.

Bulgarian, an analytic Slavic language, also has an oblique case form for pronouns:

Accusative role:

• "Kiss me! (not him)" целувай мен! (tseluvay men!)

Dative role:

• "Give that ball to me" дай тaзи топка на мен (day tazi topka na men)

(This oblique case is a relic of the original, more complex proto-Slavic system of noun cases, and there are remnants of other cases in Bulgarian, such as the vocative case of direct address.)