Cases

The nominative case: used for the subject of the sentence (the person or thing doing the action of the verb) e.g. Ein Hund bellt – a dog is barking

The accusative case: used for the direct object of the sentence (the person or thing receiving the action of the verb) e.g. ich esse eine Banane – I’m eating a banana. Also used in time phrases and with certain prepositions

The dative case: used for the indirect object of the sentence (the person or thing to whom something is done) e.g Wir zeigen dem Kind das Boot – We’re showing the boat to the child. Also used after certain prepositions and with certain verbs

The genitive case: used to show possession. Often replaced by von (+ dative)…. e.g Das ist die Freundin meines Bruders – that is my brother’s girlfriend