German · Chapter 1 · Lesson 12 · Grammar primer
The four cases, in the order they matter
Nominative and accusative first, because the contrast changes who did what. Dative next, because the commonest prepositions demand it. Genitive can wait.
The short version
Learn nominative and accusative as a pair
These two carry most of what a beginner reads, and the contrast between them is the one that changes meaning. Dative comes next, not because it is harder but because a group of very common prepositions demand it and you cannot avoid them. Genitive is retreating from spoken German and can wait.
Der Mann sieht das Kind.
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