There are 7 cases / keys in Bosnian Grammar. The cases are used for
declension of nouns and pronouns.
i) Nominative (ko, 
to?)
who, what?
ii) Genitive (koga,
ega?)what,
whom?
iii) Dative (kome,
emu?) to whom?
iv) Accusative (koga, ta?)
who, what?
v) Vocative (calling somebody) hey!
vi) Instrumental (s kim, s im?)
with who, with what, by what?
vii) Locative (o kome, o emu?)
about who, about what?
1] The
Nominative case is used:
a) As a subject of a sentence
Example:
Ian gleda kroz prozor. {Ian is looking through the window.}
b) As complement after 'biti'
Example:
Ian je Englez. {Ian is an Englishman}
2] The Genitive
case is used to denote possession; it is also used after a large
number of prepositions that denote origin, distance or removal from somewhere
such as:
iz (out of , from) and blizu(near).
Examples:
Have you got any cheese? {Imate li sira?}
The restaurant is near that building {Restoran je blizu the zgrade}
She brought the tea from the kitchen {Ona je donijela aj
iz kuhinje}
3] The
Dative case is used without preposition, to indicate
the indirect object to the verb. This case is equivalent to English preposition
'to':
I am talking to him {Govorim ovjeku}
I am helping her {Poma
em
njoj}
4] The
Accusative case (direct object case) the main use of
this case is if the question what (ta) or
whom (koga) can be asked after the verb in a sentence.
Example:
A lady wears a hat. She wears what? A hat.
The accusative case is used with some prepositions such as:
Kroz(through), u (into), za (for) na (onto):
Examples:
Ian looks through the window {Ian gleda kroz prozor}
I am going to London {Idem u London}
This letter is for my sister {Ovo pismo je za moju majku}
Idemo na izlet{We are going for a picnic}
5] The
Vocative case is used for persons addressed in speech,
or at the beginning of letters or when calling somebody's name.
Examples:
Dear Ian, Dear Mr Smith {gospodine}, Dear mother {draga mama}, hey girl!{hej
djevojko!}
6] The Instrumental
case is used to express the means by which an action is carried
out: This case is used with the following prepositions: Sa/s {with} by
Examples:
I travel by car / bus / train. {Putujem autom / autobusom / vozom}
I was talking with my mother. {Ja sam priala
sa mojom majkom}
7] The
Locative case. Endings of this case are identical to
the ones of Dative case. However this case is always used with a preposition .
One of the uses is to express location or when talking about someone/something.
Examples:
We are staying at the hotel.
-- Ostajemo u hotelu.
She is standing in the room.--
Ona stoji u sobi.
He is holding a book in the
hand. -- On dri
knjigu u ruci.
She was telling Ian about
her mother -- Priala
je Ianu o svojoj majci.
