The intransitive case is a grammatical case used in some languages to mark the argument of an intransitive verb, but not used with transitive verbs. It is generally seen in languages which display tripartite nominal morphologies; it contrasts with the nominative and absolutive cases employed in other languages' morphosyntax to mark the argument of intransitive clauses.
As a distinct intransitive case has zero marking in all languages known to have one, and is the citation form of the noun, it is frequently called absolutive, a word used for an unmarked citation-form argument in various case systems.
Famous quotes containing the word case:
“If someone does something we disapprove of, we regard him as bad if we believe we can deter him from persisting in his conduct, but we regard him as mad if we believe we cannot. In either case, the crucial issue is our control of the other: the more we lose control over him, and the more he assumes control over himself, the more, in case of conflict, we are likely to consider him mad rather than just bad.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)