Prepositions determine the case of the noun, pronoun or article that follows them. Some prepositions always use the same case.
Prepositions Followed by the Accusative Case
Rule 1: These prepositions are always followed by the accusative case:
For example:
Prepositions Followed by the Dative Case
Rule 2: These prepositions are always followed by the dative case:
This list is not complete, but these propositions are the most commonly used.
For example:
Prepositions Followed by the Dative Case
Rule 3: The most important prepositions always followed by the genitive case are:
For example:
Two-Way Prepositions: In
Rule 4: Some prepositions are two-way prepositions, which means they can be either accusative or dative case. One of the most common two-way prepositions is "in" (in, into).
The simple rule for "in" to remember is:
- if you are referring to either movement or direction, you use the accusative case. (It answers the question "where to?")
- whereas if you are referring to location or position, you use the dative. (It answers the question "where?")