Learn German: Trotz des Verlusts arbeiten wir zusammen. - Despite the loss, we are working together.

The preposition trotz (despite) strictly requires the genitive case in standard German. Because Verlust (loss) is a masculine noun (der Verlust), the definite article changes to des and we must add an -s to the end of the noun.

Could I also write des Verlustes with an extra 'e'?

Yes, you can! For many masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive case, both -s and -es are correct endings. Often, one just sounds a bit smoother to say than the other. Here, both des Verlusts and des Verlustes are perfectly acceptable.

Why is the word order arbeiten wir instead of wir arbeiten?

This is the classic German V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire prepositional phrase Trotz des Verlusts counts as the first block of information. Therefore, the verb arbeiten must take the second position, pushing the subject wir right after it.

Will I ever hear trotz used with the dative case?

Yes, in casual spoken German, people frequently use the dative after trotz (which would be trotz dem Verlust). However, standard written German and your B1 exams require the genitive case, so it is best to practice it as trotz des Verlusts.