Vibhakti — The 8 Cases

How Sanskrit nouns change based on their role in a sentence

Sanskrit uses a case system called Vibhakti to show the role of a noun in a sentence.
There are 8 cases (Vibhakti), each indicating a different grammatical relationship.
The same noun changes its ending depending on which case it is in.
Understanding Vibhakti is essential for reading any Sanskrit text.
Cases also vary by gender (Linga): Masculine (Pum), Feminine (Stri), Neuter (Napumsaka).
And by number (Vachana): Singular (Ekavachana), Dual (Dvivachana), Plural (Bahuvachana).

The 8 Cases (Vibhakti)

#	Name	Role	Question	Example	Suffix (masc.)
1	Prathama	Subject	Who / What?	रामः गच्छति— Rama goes	-ḥ / -au / -āḥ
2	Dvitiya	Object (direct)	Whom / What?	रामं पश्यति— sees Rama	-m / -au / -ān
3	Tritiya	Instrument / By	By / With what?	रामेण सह— with Rama	-ena / -ābhyām / -aiḥ
4	Chaturthi	Recipient / For	For whom?	रामाय ददाति— gives for Rama	-āya / -ābhyām / -ebhyaḥ
5	Panchami	Ablative / From	From where / whom?	रामात् आगच्छति— comes from Rama	-āt / -ābhyām / -ebhyaḥ
6	Shashthi	Possessive / Of	Whose?	रामस्य पुत्रः— son of Rama	-asya / -ayoḥ / -ānām
7	Saptami	Locative / In, On, At	Where / When?	रामे भक्तिः— devotion in Rama	-e / -ayoḥ / -eṣu
8	Sambodhana	Vocative / Addressing	O! Hey!	हे राम!— O Rama!	-a / -au / -āḥ

Pullinga (Masculine)

e.g. deva, nara, rāma

Strilinga (Feminine)

e.g. devī, nadī, sītā

Napuṃsakalinga (Neuter)

e.g. phala, jñāna, karma

Ekavachana — Singular

One

Dvivachana — Dual

Exactly two

Bahuvachana — Plural

More than two