Die Präpositionen

A German preposition is a small word that hooks a noun phrase to the rest of the sentence. In, auf, mit, für, durch, während. The catch is that each preposition forces the noun behind it into a particular case, and the article on that noun changes to match. Choose the wrong case and a German listener notices immediately, the way an English speaker notices between you and I.

There are four groups, sorted by which case the preposition assigns: accusative-only, dative-only, two-way (the Wechselpräpositionen), and genitive. Each group is a finite list. The lists are short. Memorising them is the single highest-leverage thing an A2 learner can do, because once the preposition is identified, the case is automatic and the article spelling falls out of the table in der-die-das-and-cases.

The four groups

Every German preposition belongs to exactly one of these four groups (with one or two genitive items also accepting dative in casual speech).

Group	Triggers	Members
Accusative-only	Akkusativ	durch, für, gegen, ohne, um, bis, entlang, wider
Dative-only	Dativ	aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, außer, gegenüber, entgegen, ab
Two-way	Akk. or Dat. depending on meaning	an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen
Genitive	Genitiv (sliding to dative in speech)	während, trotz, wegen, statt, anstatt, innerhalb, außerhalb, mittels, kraft, laut, aufgrund

Group 1: accusative-only

The classic list is durch, für, gegen, ohne, um, often memorised with the mnemonic DOGFU (or DOGFU+B if you add bis). These five are the highest-frequency accusative-triggers and should be drilled until they feel reflexive.

Preposition	Sense	Example	Translation
durch	through	Wir gehen durch den Park.	We walk through the park.
für	for	Das Geschenk ist für meinen Bruder.	The present is for my brother.
gegen	against, around (time)	Er stieß gegen die Wand.	He bumped against the wall.
ohne	without	Ich trinke Tee ohne Zucker.	I drink tea without sugar.
um	around, at (clock time)	Der Film beginnt um acht Uhr.	The film starts at eight.
bis	until, by	Bis nächsten Montag.	Until next Monday.
entlang	along (often postposition)	Wir laufen den Fluss entlang.	We walk along the river.
wider	contrary to (formal)	Wider besseres Wissen.	Against better judgement.

Entlang is unusual: it usually comes after the noun, not before. Den Fluss entlang, not entlang den Fluss. Bis often combines with another preposition (bis zum Ende, bis nach Berlin); the second preposition is the one that determines the case.

Group 2: dative-only

The seven-preposition chant is the spine of dative use: aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu. Drill them as a single rhythmic block. After this group is automatic, dative endings on articles and pronouns become much faster to produce.

Preposition	Sense	Example	Translation
aus	out of, from (origin)	Sie kommt aus dem Haus.	She is coming out of the house.
bei	at, near, at someone’s	Ich wohne bei meinen Eltern.	I live with my parents.
mit	with, by means of	Er fährt mit dem Bus.	He travels by bus.
nach	after, to (places without article)	Wir fliegen nach Berlin.	We fly to Berlin.
seit	since, for (past until now)	Seit drei Jahren wohne ich hier.	I have lived here for three years.
von	from, of (replacing genitive)	Das ist ein Brief von meiner Schwester.	That is a letter from my sister.
zu	to (people, destinations)	Ich gehe zu meinem Bruder.	I am going to my brother’s place.
außer	except for	Alle außer mir.	Everyone except me.
gegenüber	opposite, facing (often postposition)	Mir gegenüber sitzt ein Mann.	A man sits opposite me.
entgegen	contrary to	Entgegen seinem Wunsch.	Contrary to his wish.
ab	starting from	Ab nächstem Freitag.	Starting next Friday.

Gegenüber often follows its noun, especially with pronouns (mir gegenüber, not gegenüber mir). Bei meinem Bruder literally means at my brother’s place, the same job French chez does.

Group 3: the two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen)

This is the group beginners most often get wrong. Nine prepositions can take either accusative or dative, and the choice depends on what the verb is doing.

• Accusative when there is movement toward a destination. The question is wohin? (where to?).
• Dative when the situation is static, or movement is happening within an already-occupied space. The question is wo? (where?).

The members: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen.

Preposition	wohin? (acc)	wo? (dat)
an	Ich hänge das Bild an die Wand. (I hang the picture on the wall.)	Das Bild hängt an der Wand. (The picture hangs on the wall.)
auf	Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch. (I put the book on the table.)	Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. (The book is on the table.)
hinter	Er stellt sich hinter den Baum. (He places himself behind the tree.)	Er steht hinter dem Baum. (He stands behind the tree.)
in	Ich gehe in die Küche. (I am going into the kitchen.)	Ich bin in der Küche. (I am in the kitchen.)
neben	Setz dich neben mich. (Sit down next to me.)	Er sitzt neben mir. (He is sitting next to me.)
über	Sie hängt die Lampe über den Tisch. (She hangs the lamp above the table.)	Die Lampe hängt über dem Tisch. (The lamp hangs above the table.)
unter	Die Katze läuft unter das Bett. (The cat runs under the bed.)	Die Katze schläft unter dem Bett. (The cat sleeps under the bed.)
vor	Stell dich vor das Haus. (Stand in front of the house.)	Sie wartet vor dem Haus. (She waits in front of the house.)
zwischen	Ich setze mich zwischen die beiden. (I sit down between the two.)	Ich sitze zwischen den beiden. (I sit between the two.)

The minimal pair to internalise is Ich gehe in die Küche (accusative, into) versus Ich bin in der Küche (dative, in). Same preposition, same noun, different case, different verb behind it. Once gehen and sein trigger the right case automatically, the rest of the Wechselpräpositionen fall in line.

The verbs that pair with each side are also predictable. Stellen, legen, setzen, hängen, gehen, fahren, laufen, fliegen point at a destination and take accusative. Stehen, liegen, sitzen, hängen (yes, hängen is on both lists), sein, bleiben, wohnen describe a static state and take dative. German treats the verb pair legen/liegen (to lay / to lie) and setzen/sitzen (to set / to sit) as completely separate words exactly because of this case distinction.

Group 4: genitive prepositions

A small group of prepositions still takes the genitive in written German. In casual spoken German, most of them are slowly being replaced by dative constructions, but if you write essays, news, contracts, or anything formal, keep them genitive.

Preposition	Sense	Example	Translation
während	during	Während des Krieges.	During the war.
trotz	despite	Trotz des schlechten Wetters.	Despite the bad weather.
wegen	because of	Wegen des Regens.	Because of the rain.
statt / anstatt	instead of	Statt eines Briefes.	Instead of a letter.
innerhalb	within	Innerhalb einer Woche.	Within a week.
außerhalb	outside of	Außerhalb der Stadt.	Outside the city.
mittels	by means of	Mittels eines Schlüssels.	By means of a key.
kraft	by virtue of	Kraft seines Amtes.	By virtue of his office.
laut	according to	Laut des Berichts.	According to the report.
aufgrund	on the basis of	Aufgrund seiner Erfahrung.	On the basis of his experience.

In conversation you will hear wegen dem Regen and trotz dem Wetter constantly. Both are technically wrong but pass without comment. In writing they look careless. Laut and mittels sometimes take dative even in writing. Aufgrund is preferred in formal prose.

Contractions

A handful of preposition + article combinations contract obligatorily in writing. Saying in dem Garten instead of im Garten sounds wrong unless you are emphasising that particular garden.

Full form	Contraction
an dem	am
an das	ans
in dem	im
in das	ins
bei dem	beim
zu dem	zum
zu der	zur
von dem	vom
auf das	aufs (informal)
über das	übers (informal)

The contractions covering am, im, beim, zum, zur, vom are not optional in normal speech; the uncontracted forms are reserved for stress (nicht in der Stadt, sondern auf dem Land). Ans, ins, aufs, übers sit slightly more on the informal side but are standard.

Time expressions

A large share of preposition use in German is about pinning events to time. The patterns are worth memorising as fixed chunks.

Pattern	Case	Example	Translation
vor + time period	dative	vor zwei Jahren	two years ago
in + future time	dative	in einer Woche	in a week (from now)
seit + duration up to now	dative	seit drei Tagen	for three days now
für + intended duration	accusative	für drei Tage	for three days (planned)
um + clock time	accusative	um acht Uhr	at eight o’clock
am + day	dative	am Montag	on Monday
im + month / season / year-period	dative	im Sommer, im Mai	in summer, in May
gegen + approximate time	accusative	gegen neun Uhr	around nine
ab + starting point	dative	ab nächster Woche	starting next week
bis + endpoint	accusative	bis Freitag	until Friday

Seit and für both translate as English for but cover different scenarios. Seit is past-and-still-going (seit drei Tagen wohne ich hier, I have been living here for three days). Für is forward-looking, planned duration (ich fahre für drei Tage nach Berlin, I am going to Berlin for three days).

Place expressions

Movement to and from places follows specific preposition rules that often surprise English speakers.

• nach + city or country (no article): nach Berlin, nach Italien, nach Frankreich. This is the default for destinations.
• in + feminine country with article: in die Schweiz (movement), in der Schweiz (location). The same applies to die Türkei, die Niederlande, die USA.
• zu + person or destination treated as a person’s place: zu meinem Bruder, zum Arzt, zur Schule.
• bei + person’s place or workplace: bei meinem Bruder (at my brother’s), beim Arzt (at the doctor’s), bei der Arbeit (at work).
• aus + origin: aus Deutschland, aus Berlin, aus dem Wald.
• von + starting point or general source: von der Arbeit kommen (to come from work).

The pair zu / bei runs parallel to French chez used with verbs of motion versus stasis. Ich gehe zu meinem Bruder (I am going to my brother’s) versus Ich bin bei meinem Bruder (I am at my brother’s).

Verb-preposition collocations

Many German verbs are inseparable from a specific preposition, and that preposition fixes the case of whatever follows. These pairs have to be memorised as units; the case is no longer a logical decision but a fact about the verb.

Verb + preposition	Case	Sense	Example
warten auf	acc	wait for	Ich warte auf den Bus.
denken an	acc	think of	Ich denke an dich.
sich erinnern an	acc	remember	Erinnerst du dich an mich?
sich freuen auf	acc	look forward to	Ich freue mich auf den Urlaub.
sich freuen über	acc	be pleased about (event)	Ich freue mich über das Geschenk.
sprechen über / von	dat	speak about / of	Wir sprechen von der Arbeit.
hängen von … ab	dat	depend on	Das hängt von dir ab.
bestehen aus	dat	consist of	Das Team besteht aus fünf Spielern.
bestehen auf	dat	insist on	Er besteht auf seinem Recht.
teilnehmen an	dat	take part in	Sie nimmt an der Konferenz teil.
sich interessieren für	acc	be interested in	Ich interessiere mich für Geschichte.

Note the contrast between sich freuen auf (looking forward to a future event, accusative) and sich freuen über (being pleased about something that happened, accusative) versus bestehen aus (consist of, dative) and bestehen auf (insist on, dative). Same surface preposition can attach to different verbs with different case behaviour.

Da- and wo-compounds

When the object of a preposition is a thing rather than a person, German does not say with it, from it, on it. Instead it builds a single compound word with the prefix da- (or dar- before vowels).

Preposition	Da-compound	Wo-compound (question)
mit	damit	womit
für	dafür	wofür
auf	darauf	worauf
von	davon	wovon
über	darüber	worüber
an	daran	woran
in	darin	worin

Womit fährst du? Mit dem Bus. Ich fahre damit. What do you go by? By bus. I go by it.

Crucially, the da- compound is used only for things, never for people. Mit ihm still works for with him, but with it (the bus) is damit, not mit ihm. Forgetting this rule and saying mit ihm about a bus is one of the cleanest tells of an English-speaking learner.

How writers use prepositions

Kafka’s prose lives in stacked prepositional phrases. Open Der Process or Das Schloss and almost every sentence pins K. somewhere with a string of in, vor, hinter, zwischen, unter, each one a case decision. Kafka was a trained insurance lawyer, and the precision of his prepositions comes from the same reflex that drafts a contract clause. A reader who can identify the case of each prepositional object can hold a forty-word Kafka sentence in working memory; a reader who cannot will lose the thread by the third clause.

Goethe in Werther uses prepositions to mark time and place in the diary entries. Seit drei Tagen, vor einer Woche, am Morgen, im Garten, unter dem Lindenbaum. Werther’s letters are organised around his daily route through a small village, and the dative time-and-place phrases are how the reader follows him from one scene to the next. Genitive constructions like die Leiden des jungen Werthers in the title also push genitive prepositions (während, wegen, trotz) into the body text more than a modern German novel would.

Spyri’s Heidi drills the dative prepositions into beginners almost involuntarily. Mit dem Großvater, bei den Ziegen, auf dem Berg, in der Hütte. The same six prepositions cycle through every paragraph for two hundred pages, and after a week of reading the dative form of every common noun is sitting in your head whether you tried to memorise it or not. The two-way preposition auf in particular gets its full workout: auf den Berg (movement up) and auf dem Berg (life there), both within a few pages of each other.

What you don’t need to do

You do not need to memorise the genitive prepositions before you can speak. Recognise them on the page and accept that wegen dem Regen will work in conversation. Save the genitive list for B1, when you start writing more formal text.

You do not need to handle every two-way preposition perfectly at A2. Pick in and auf first. Get the gehen-versus-sein contrast automatic. The other seven (hinter, neben, über, unter, vor, an, zwischen) follow the same rule and will arrive on their own with reading.

You do not need to learn verb-preposition pairs from a flashcard list. They embed faster from reading. The first time you meet warten auf in a Heidi paragraph, the auf attaches to warten in your memory more durably than ten Anki repetitions can manage.

You do not need to use uncontracted forms like in dem or zu der in normal sentences. Default to the contractions im, ins, am, ans, beim, zum, zur, vom. The full forms are for special emphasis only.

Common confusions

• Two-way prepositions with the wrong case. Saying Ich gehe in der Küche (dative) when you mean into the kitchen sounds like saying I am going in the kitchen in English. The German listener hears the dative and assumes you are walking around inside the room you are already in.
• Seit versus für. Both translate as English for + duration, but seit is past-and-ongoing, für is intended future. Ich wohne seit drei Jahren in Berlin (I have been living in Berlin for three years). Ich fahre für drei Tage nach Berlin (I am going to Berlin for three days).
• Nach versus zu. Both can translate as English to. Use nach for cities and countries without articles (nach Berlin, nach Frankreich). Use zu for people, businesses, and destinations treated as someone’s place (zu meinem Bruder, zum Arzt, zur Bank).
• Bei does not mean by in the English sense of agency. Bei meinem Bruder is at my brother’s place, not by my brother. For agency in passive sentences, German uses von + dative.
• Da-compounds for people. Never. Damit is with it, not with him. For people, keep the preposition + pronoun: mit ihm, für sie, von uns.
• Verb-preposition pairs that look transparent but are not. Sich freuen auf and sich freuen über both take accusative but mean different things (anticipating future versus pleased by event). Sprechen über and sprechen von both mean to speak about and largely overlap, but sprechen über takes accusative and sprechen von takes dative. The case is fixed by the preposition, not by the verb’s general behaviour.

Where you’ll meet it in the library

Prepositions appear in every German sentence; the books that drill them most cleanly:

• Heidi (A1). Spyri’s children’s-book German cycles the same six dative prepositions (mit, bei, in, auf, von, zu) across two hundred pages. The single best A1 source for getting the seven-preposition chant into reflex memory.
• Grimms Märchen (A1). Formulaic openings (Es war einmal ein König in einem fernen Land) drill in, auf, unter, zwischen through the same fairy-tale shapes again and again.
• Die Verwandlung (A2+). Kafka’s opening sentence stacks aus, in, zu in a single clause. Every paragraph after that adds nested vor, hinter, neben, über phrases.
• Der Process and Das Schloss (A2+). The longest and most prepositionally dense German prose in the catalog. Every page is a stress test for two-way preposition recognition.
• Faust (B2). Goethe’s verse compresses prepositions and articles together (am Tor, im Walde, zur Hölle) and adds the older genitive prepositions in their full glory.
• Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (B2). The richest source of time-and-place prepositions in the catalog. Every letter opens with a date and a place, and the prose tracks Werther through seasons (im Frühling, am Abend, vor der Hütte, in den Wäldern).

For the case forms each preposition triggers, return to der-die-das-and-cases. For how adjectives in front of those nouns also bend to the case, see adjektivdeklination.