Prpositionen (auf Deutsch)

The Basics:
Prepositions in German mean the same thing as prepositions in English. They still are connectors, and they still create prepositional phrases. Its just that prepositional phrases in German are a little more complicated than prepositional phrases in English. Why? Because using a preposition throws you into either the dative or accusative case, meaning you have to use the appropriate endings on stuff in the phrase. With an accusative preposition, as theyre called if they make you use accusative case, you have to use den instead of der, ihn instead of er, and all the rest of the accusative changes. With a dative preposition, as theyre called if they make you use the dative case, you have to use dem, der, dem, den for your four articles and all the rest of that fun dative stuff. Unfortunately, we also have a third category that put you in either the dative or accusative case depending on what your sentence means. Blah. So were going to talk about these three groups separately.

Akkusativ Prpositionen

First, lets start off by straight up translating the prepositions youll be using. durch-through ohne-without gegen-against (Youre against a war), into (less common), or around (around one oclock) fr-for um-around (Walk around the boulder) or at (at one oclock) bis-until or by (Ill do this by May third) or as far as (Im going as far as North Dakota) Ok, now look at those 6 together. We keep them together. Why? Because they all work the same way. These six prepositions are grouped together because once you use one, youre magically in the akkusativ case. Im not going into a big review of what happens in the akkusativ case, just remember that its usually the equivalent of the direct object in
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English, and you use den, die, das, die, instead of der, die, das, die. Wantmore review? The reason I have them in that order (durch, ohne, gegen, fr, um bis) is they kinda make a popular acronym. Its the acronym my German teacher always told us, anyway. Dogfub. Great acronym, I know. But its kinda close to dog food. If you have issues talking If you come up with a better one, please tell me. So, anyway, lets take a look at what happens with these prepositions and their prepositional phrases (which are in bold): durch: Ich gehe durch den Tunnel. (yes, der Tunnel is a tunnel) ohne: Wir sind ohne unsere Koffer geflogen. (dont worry if you dont get the past tense, see here, and yes Koffer plural is still Koffer) gegen: Hatten Sie gestern gegen hundert Besucher? (using gegen as about: Did you have around a hundred visitors yesterday?) fr: Diese Landkarte ist fr ihn. um: Um sechs Uhr fahren wir. bis: Sie fhrt heute nur bis Heidelberg. (used as far as) No biggie if you didnt understand all those. The important thing is recognizing all those beautiful akkusativ cases after the prepositions. Notice the example for um, where the prepositional phrase comes before the verb. This doesnt make the entire sentence into the akkusativ case. The akkusativ-ness is confined to the prepositional phrase. Lets do some practice.

Dativ Prpositionen

First, lets start off by translating the prepositions youll be using. (aus, ausser, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu) aus: out of: Wir sind aus dem Geschft gekommen. - We came out of the shop. from [see note 1]: Er kommt aus der Schweiz. - Hes from Switzerland. made of: Es ist aus Holz. - Its made of wood. ausser: except for: Ausser meinem Koffer habe ich nichts. - Except for my suitcase, I have nothing. bei: at: Sie wohnt bei ihrer Freundin. - Shes living at her friends. near: Die Kirche steht bei der Nordstrasse. - The church is near North Street.

mit: with: Ich reise mit meiner Familie. - I travel with my family. by: Kamst du mit dem Flugzeug an? - Did you arrive by plane? nach: after: Nach dem Museum will ich das Rathaus sehen. - After the museum, I want to see the townhall. to [see note 2]: Wir werden nach Berlin am Freitag fliegen. - We will fly to Berlin on Friday. seit: since: Seit vorigem Jahr wohnt er in Mnchen. - He has been living in Munich since last year. for: Seit langem haben wir gewartet. - We waited for a long time. (extra credit if you recognize that langem has the "no word" adjective ending on it!) von: from [see note 1]: Wir haben eine Landkarte von der netten Frau bekommen. We received a map from the nice woman. Pay attention for when you still would use "von" for from a place: Er reist von der Schweiz. - He travels from Switzerland. This is different than him being from Switzerland, which is what aus would mean. of (hes a friend of mine) zu: to [see note 2]: Wir fahren zu dem Flughafen. - We are driving to the airport. -used as at in Ich bin zu Hause. - I am at home. -used as for in Er gibt mir ein Geschenk zum Geburtstag. -He gives me gift for my birthday. **Note 1: When youre receiving something from someone/something, you can either use aus or von. If youre getting it from a person, usevon (Er bekommt ein Paket von der Frau). If the item is coming from a place, use aus (Er bekommt ein Paket aus Berlin). **Note 2: The differences between the "to"s are super important. Nach is for a geographic place name (Berlin, Frankreich, NYC, Deutschland) or points of a compass/left and right (Wir gehen nach rechts, Die Sonne geht von Osten nach Westen). Zu is used if you're going to a non-proper noun place (the airport, a church, school). An easy way to distinguish is that words where you can say "to the" go with zu. You get to use a contraction too, like zum or zur! In: Sorry to burst your bubble, but we also have to deal with "in," which is part of that third category of prepositions we haven't talked about yet. But you use in with plural nouns and feminine nouns.
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That's why you say "Wir gehen in die Stadt/in die Schweiz/in die Vereinigte Staaten." A lot of these can overlap with "zu." You have probably heard both "in die Schule" and "zur Schule," so less pressure there. But you don't say "zur Schweiz," you say "in die." **Note 3: Always remember the difference between zu Hause and nach Hause! ZU Hause= AT home. NACH Hause=to the house/going home. It will be hard in the beginning because youll want to say zu when youre going to because to and zu sound alike. DONT. Ich bin zu Hause=Im at home. Ich gehe nach Hause=Im going home. Whew. Brain overload. Go eat a snack or something for five minutes. Want a good way to remember those? Check out this video. I personally use the song, but I like his other "Roses are Red" version, too. Now, just like with akkusativ prepositions magically launched you into the akkusativ case(what were the akkusativ prepositions? Durch, ohne, gegen, fr, um bis), guess what the dativ prepositions launch you into? The Dativ case! I know, that one was tricky. Anyway, if you want a dativ review, head here. All I'm reminding you in dem, der, dem, den, and an "n" on your plurals. Ok, let's test some sentences with these prepositions: aus: Er kommt jetzt aus dem Laden. ausser: Ausser meinem Hemd, habe ich nichts. bei: Die Schule ist bei meinem neuen Haus. (Adjectives are extra awesome!) mit: Ich bin mit ihnen gekommen. (Past tense trouble is the next topic) nach: Wir fahren nach Brandenburg am Samstag. seit: Seit fnf Jahren habe ich deutsch gesprochen. (why did I put an "n" on Jahre? Dative plural!) von: Ein Freund von mir hat mir gesagt, dass du verrckt bist! **Remember, your girlfriend is your "Freundin" and your boyfriend is your "Freund." Your friend who is a girl is "eine Freundin von mir" and your friend who is a boy is "ein Freund von mir" zu: Jeden Tag mssen wir zur Schule gehen. Dann bin ich mde...

If you're still hanging in there, try and focus on the conjugation on the articles. It's easy to get bogged down in the meanings of all the prepositions, but that'll come. Focus on remembering which prepositions put you in which case, and what to do with the "die Schule" that you must now give the correct article. Lets do some practice.

Prpositionen that can't make up their Minds...

I'm sorry. I really am. But, just to make life difficult, we do, in fact, have a third type of prepositions to deal with. A very important category. They're the prepositions who switch alliegence from dative to accusative depending on how you use them. Filthy traitors. Here's your rule of thumb: If the action is not yet completed, use accusative. If the action is completed, use dativ. Let me say that differently. If you can ask the question "Wohin?" (where to?) of the preposition, you're in accusative. If you can ask the question "Wo?" (where?) then you're dative. The action is either in the process of being done, and you're going for a destination, and you have to ask where you're going to-akkusativ-or the action is finite, done, over, and stable, and you have to ask where you are. If it still doesn't make sense, don't worry. Looking at examples will help. Lemme show you our 9 friendly traitorous prepositions in both forms. Prep. ber Meanin g over, about Accusative
Kannst du das Gemldeber den Tisch hngen?

Dative
Das Gemlde hngt berdem Tisch.

Can you hang the painting over the table? -This is akkusativ because it hasn't been done yet. There's intent to do it. But where are

The painting hangs over the table. -This is dative because it is hanging. The action is compeleted. It's done.Where is it? Over the table.

you going to put it up? Over the table. **about=always accusative

Ich lege die Landkarteauf den Schreibtisch. Die Landkarte liegt aufdem Schreibtisch.

auf

I am laying the on, onto map onthe desk. -This is accusative because the action is still being completed, compared to...
Wir fahren an den Bestimmungsort.

The map lays on the desk. -...And the action is over and done and there the map sits.
Wir sind an dem Bestimmungsort.

We drive to the destination. an at, by, on, to or

Er schreibt an die Tafel.

We are at the destination. or

Er steht an der Tafel.

He stands at the He writes on the chalkboard. (he is no chalkboard. (the longer going to a writing is going on, destination, he is being done) standing there, thus it is done) in in, into, to You are going to school.
Ihr geht in die Schule. Ihr seid in der Schule.

You are at school.

vor

in front laufen! Wir stehen vor dem Auto. of, before, Let's run in front We are standing in ago of the car! (P.S. not front of the car. a good idea) behind
Wir werden hinter das grosse Schiff segeln. Wir segeln hinter dem grossen Schiff.

Lass uns vor das Auto

hinter

We will

We are
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sailing behindthe big ship. -You can still be moving and your preposition can be dative, but you have to have completed the sail behind the big action of the verb. For ship. example, this -Note that future sentence as is could tense means you be written with either can pretty safely "das Schiff" or "dem use accusative, as Schiff." If it was "das you will be doing Schiff" you would be something so that going to the big ship action isn't to sail behind it, or completed. you may be sailing around it to the other side. Since it's "dem" you're just sailing, but you're sailing behind it, just chilling in its shadow or whatnot.
Sie wollen ein neues Hausneben mein Haus bauen. Ein neues Haus stehtneben mein Haus.

neben

beside

They want to build a A new house stands beside my house. new house beside my -The building has occured, thus the house. -This will happen in house is just standing, the future, thus the thus the action is action has not been completed, thus dative. completed, so accusative
Setz dich zwischen dein Das Kind Onkel und deine Tante! setzt zwischenseinem Onkel und seiner Tante!

zwische between Sit n down between you The child r uncle and your sits betweenhis uncle aunt. and his aunt. unter under, below
Ihr lauft unter den Baum. Ihr lauft unter dem Baum.

You run under the

You run under the tree.

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tree. -This is another sentence where the preposition is -In dative, though, you crucial. In already are under the accusative, you are tree, running in place in the act of running (presumably). under the tree; you are running towards it. WHEW. I'm sure that made you very unhappy, but don't worry, you'll get lots of practice below. First, however, a quick note about...

Above and Beyond!

Prepositions also present a wonderful opportunity to explore German contractions. You already are very familiar with English contractions, things like "it's," "we're," "I'm" and so on. We contract subjects and verbs, but German contract prepositions and articles, like turning "over the" into "ovhe." Except cooler. Here are your basic German preposition contractions: Two Product prepositio Contractio ns n an+dem an+das auf+das bei+dem fr+das in+das in+dem um+das von+dem zu+dem zu+der *=uncommon Take note that it's rare to contract a feminine definite article. The only one that works is zur! am ans aufs* beim frs* ins im ums* vom zum zur