The inflection (altering of form) of nouns is called declension . The classes of declensions are called cases , and together they form the Noun case system . In Pali, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and participles are declined in eight cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, ablative, genitive, dative and locative. This post summaries the various Pali noun cases that we have discussed so far (and some we haven't). English has largely lost its case system although personal pronouns still have three cases, which are simplified forms of the nominative, accusative and genitive cases. In Pali, a noun is placed in one or other case as is required by its grammatical function in the sentence. With the exception of the nominative, vocative and some instances of the accusative case, the oblique cases as they are termed can be rendered in English by prepositional phrases .
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