In - a preposition with Dative
The preposition in can be used with two cases:
- Dative - indicating the place of action: in / inside (as we are about to learn now)
- Accusative - indicating the place to which the action is proceeding: in / into (we will look into this later)
Let's start with some good news! A singular noun remains the same in the dative case, except for some weak words, most of which refer to persons or animals. You will learn about this later.
However the article before a noun in the dative case does change. Let's have a look at this!
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der Mann | die Frau | das Kind |
| Dative | dem Mann (to the man) | der Frau (to the woman) | dem Kind (to the child) |
| einem Mann (to a man) | einer Frau (to a woman) | einem Kind (to a child) |
Let's try this out with the phrase in a company.
in + die Firma (in indefinite dative case)
in einer Firma
