Cases

In German, all nouns have cases. The case of the nound depends on its relationship to the verb and its position in the sentence.

Nominative
The nominative case in German is always the subject of the sentence. However, it may not always be found at the beginning of the sentence.

Accusative
The accusative case is equivalent to the objective case in English. A noun usually takes the accusative case when it is the direct object of an action verb.

Dative
The dative case is the indirect object. This is the noun that is indirectly affected by the verb. The dative case is usually easy to identify because of the change in the articles.

Genitive
The genitive case is used to show possession. It is a more formal way of speaking and is more often used in writing than in everday speech.