noun
- words or phrases used to address someone directly, especially in grammar
Usage: grammatical term; plural form
Examples
- In the sentence ‘John, please come here,’ the word ‘John’ is a vocative.
- Vocatives are often set off by commas in written English.
- Common vocatives include names, titles, and terms of endearment.
- The teacher explained how vocatives function in different languages.
- Words like ‘sir,’ ‘madam,’ and ‘dear’ can serve as vocatives.
- Students learned to identify vocatives in their grammar exercises.