And you
know, too, that the noun _John_ is the _actor_, therefore John is in the
_nominative case_ to the verb writes. In the expressions, The man
walks--The boy plays--Thunders roll--- Warriors fight--you perceive that
the words _walks, plays, roll_, and _fight_, are _active verbs;_ and you
cannot be at a loss to know, that the nouns _man, boy, thunders_, and
_warriors_, are in the _nominative case._
As no _action_ can be produced without some agent or moving cause, it
follows, that every active verb must have some _actor_ or _agent_. This
_actor, doer_, or _producer of the action_, is the nominative.
_Nominative_, from the Latin _nomino_, literally signifies to _name;_
but in the technical sense in which it is used in grammar, it means the
noun or pronoun which is the _subject_ of affirmation. This subject or
nominative may be _active, passive_, or _neuter_, as hereafter
exemplified.
A _neuter verb_ expresses neither action nor passion, but _being_, or _a
state of being_; as, _John sits_.
Now, in this example, _John_ is not represented as _an actor_, but, as
the _subject_ of the verb _sits_, therefore John is in the _nominative
case_ to the verb.
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