German prepositions are notorious for tripping up learners. They dictate case, change meaning based on context, and sometimes seem to follow no logic at all. But with a bit of structure, they’re manageable. Here’s how to use them correctly.
The Basics: What Are German Prepositions?
Prepositions are small words that link nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other parts of a sentence. In German, they also determine the grammatical case of the noun that follows - either accusative, dative, or genitive. Some even switch cases depending on context.
Präposition
/pʁɛpoziˈt͡si̯oːn/“Preposition”
Prepositions and Their Cases
German prepositions fall into four categories based on the case they require:
- Accusative prepositions: Indicate movement or direction (e.g., durch, für, gegen).
- Dative prepositions: Indicate location or static position (e.g., aus, bei, mit).
- Two-way prepositions: Can take either accusative (movement) or dative (location) (e.g., an, auf, in).
- Genitive prepositions: Less common, mostly formal (e.g., trotz, während).
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Even advanced learners slip up with prepositions. Here are the most frequent errors:
- Mixing up aus and von: Aus means 'out of' (origin), while von means 'from' (a place or person).
- Using zu instead of nach: Nach is for cities and countries, zu for people and places with articles.
- Forgetting that wegen (because of) takes the genitive, though colloquially, dative is often used.
Prepositional Contractions
German loves merging prepositions with articles. For example:
| Preposition | + Article | Contraction |
|---|---|---|
| an | dem | am |
| in | das | ins |
| zu | der | zur |
These contractions are ubiquitous in spoken German. Ignoring them will make you sound overly formal.
Prepositions in Idiomatic Expressions
Many German idioms use prepositions in non-literal ways. For example:
- auf dem Schlauch stehen (to be clueless, literally 'to stand on the hose')
- unter aller Sau (terrible, literally 'below all pigs')
For more on idioms, check out our guide to Croatian idioms.
Final Tips
- Learn prepositions with their required cases from the start. It’s harder to unlearn mistakes later.
- Pay attention to fixed expressions (e.g., sich freuen auf + accusative for 'to look forward to').
- Listen to native speakers. Contractions and idiomatic usage will start to feel natural over time.
