Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index A vocative expression is an expression of direct address, wherein the identity of the party being spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence. For example, in the sentence, "I don't know, John.", John is a vocative expression indicating the party who is being addressed. Some languages (e.g., Greek) have a special vocative case for this; others do not. English simply uses the subjective case for vocative expressions but sets them off from the rest of the sentences with pauses (rendered in writing as commas). A vocative expression is interjective and can occur in any clause, irrespective of mood. Some examples... Good morning, class! Don't forget your swimming trunks, George. Hey, George, did you remember to bring your swimming trunks? No, Bob, I forgot. I'm proud of you, son. If I were you, Mary, I'd take French next year instead of Spanish. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.