_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. And you know that the word _sits_ does not express
_apparent action_, but a _condition of being;_ that is, it represents
John in a particular _state of existence;_ therefore _sits_ is a _neuter
verb_. In speaking of the neuter gender of nouns, I informed you, that
_neuter_ means _neither;_ from which it follows, that neuter gender
implies neither gender; that is, neither masculine nor feminine. Hence,
by an easy transition of thought, you learn, that _neuter_, when applied
to verbs, means neither of the other two classes; that is, a _neuter_
verb is one which is neither active nor passive. In these examples, The
man stands--The lady lives--The child sleeps--The world exists--the
words _stands, lives, sleeps_, and _exists_, are _neuter verbs;_ and the
nouns, _man, lady, child_, and _world_, are all in the _nominative
case_, because each is the _subject_ of a verb. Thus you perceive, that
when a noun is in the nominative case to an _active_ verb, it is the
_actor;_ and when it is nominative to a _neuter_ verb, it is _not_ an
actor, but the _subject_ of the verb.

Some neuter verbs express _being in general;_ as, The man _is_; Kingdoms
_exist_. Others express _being in some particular state_; as, The man