Subjektsformer

Subjektsformer, or subject forms, refer to the grammatical form of a word when it functions as the subject of a clause. In languages with a visible case system, the subject form is usually the nominative case. In languages without extensive case marking, the subject is often indicated by word order or by distinct pronoun forms rather than by inflection on nouns.

The term is commonly used in grammar education to distinguish between forms used for subjects and those used for objects or other roles. Subjektsformer apply to pronouns most obviously, but in languages with case marking, nouns and adjectives may also appear in a subject form. This contrasts with objektsformer, which are the object forms of words. The subject form typically agrees with the verb in person and number in languages with subject–verb agreement.

Examples illustrate the concept in different languages. In English, subject pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence (I saw him; They run). In German, nominative (subject) forms include ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie for pronouns, and noun forms can change with articles in languages that mark case. In languages with little case marking, such as Swedish, the distinction is often taught mainly for pronouns, with nouns largely maintaining the same form.

In Swedish teaching, subjektsformen of pronouns includes jag, du, han, hon, den, det, vi, ni, de, used when the pronoun serves as the sentence’s subject.