article present, it will mark the subject nominative (as in the example above). Third, if there is a proper name present, it will be the subject. Though the nominative case functions in other, less common ways, two important but less-common functions of the nominative case that we will look at briefly are the nominative absolute and the nominative for vocative. The nominative absolute is found when a nominative-case word occurs apart from any verbs. We find this most commonly in the opening sections