Following the accusative caseThe accusative case is used for the direct object of the verb, for instance, the noun that has the action of the verb done to it. It is also used automatically after these prepositions: bis until, by durch through fü r for gegen against ohne without um round entlang along ('entlang' comes after the noun) The good thing about the accusative case is that only masculine words change their endings in the accusative. For example: der becomes den ein becomes einen Ich kaufe ein Geschenk fü r meinen VaterIch kaufe ein Geschenk fü r meine Mutter Sie geht durch das Kaufhaus Er geht die Strasse entlang (note 'entlang' after the noun!) Following the dative caseThe dative case is used for the indirect object of a verb (the person or thing to whom you are giving something). Check out Use of Cases if you are unsure. It is also always used after these prepositions: aus out of bei at the house of, with mit with nach after seit since von from, by zu to gegenü ber opposite (sometimes after the noun) Some of these have shortened forms: zu dem (masculine / neutral) = zum zu der (feminine) = zur bei dem (masculine / neutral) = beimvon dem (masculine / neutral) = vom For example: Nach der Mittagspause hat er Deutsch. Ich wohne bei meiner Oma. Peter kommt aus dem Haus. Sie fä hrt direkt zur Brü cke. Seit If you want to say how long you have been doing something, you use seit + the present tense in German. In English, you use the past tense. For example: I have been learning for four years = Ich lerne seit vier Jahren Deutsch Following the accusative or dative caseSome prepositions take the accusative or the dative case depending on what is happening in the sentence. The preposition will take the accusative if you are talking about movement. For example: Sie geht ü ber die Brü cke. The preposition will take the dative if you are talking about where something or someone is. For example: Die Brü cke ist ü ber dem Fluss. These are the prepositions, which can take accusative or dative case: in into, in an to, at auf onto, on hinter behind neben next to, beside ü ber over, above unter under, beneath vor in front of zwischen between Have a go at these sentences to see if you have understood this rule. Fill in the gaps in the following sentences by dragging 'die', 'der' or 'das' into the correct spaces. Mark your answer to see how you got on... /**/Following the genitive caseThe genitive case means 'of'. There are also a few prepositions that always use the genitive. These are: wegen because of trotz in spite of wä hrend during (the course of) For example: Wegen des Wetters bleibe ich zu Hause.