Prepositions in General
- Prepositions can‘t be changed and are never declined. Usally you find them in front of the nouns and pronouns they belong to.
- Using them is not so simple. Translation only helps sometimes because they are used differently than in English or other languages.
- You must learn which prepositions are used in which situations.
- Prepositions can be divided into different types: locative, modal, temporal, and causal.
- The preposition always determines the case of the noun that follows.
Locative Prepositions
Locative prepositions describe position or movement.
Question: Where? Where to? From where?
A: „Wo bist du?“
B: „Ich bin vor dem Kino. Ich warte neben dem blauen Mercedes.“
The most commonly used locative prepositions are: an, auf, aus, bei, hinter, in, neben, von, vor, zu.
A more detailed information about the different local prepositions you will find in the lecture: Locative Prepositions
Temporal Prepositions
Temporal prepositions describes time. When did something happen? How long did it take?
Temporal: ⇒ related to time
Question: When? How long?
A: „Wann musst du arbeiten?“
B: „Ich muss von 8 bis 17 Uhr arbeiten.“
The most commonly used temporal prepositions are: an, ab, bis, gegen, in, nach, seit, um, von, vor.
For more detailed information about the different temporal preposition go onward to lecture: Temporal Prepositions
Modal Prepositions
Modal prepositions describe „how“ or „in what way“ something happened.
Modal: ⇒ related to how/in what way something happened
Question: How?
A: „Wie hast du das gemacht?“
B: „Mit Hilfe von meinem Vater.“
The most commonly used modal prepositions are: auf, für, gegen, mit, ohne, statt.
Causal Prepositions
Causal prepositions describe the cause or result of an action. Why did it happen?
Causal: ⇒ related to the cause or effect of an action
Question: Why?
A: „Wieso musst heute länger arbeiten?“
B: „Wegen der vielen kranken Kollegen.“
The most commonly used causal prepositions are: anlässlich, aufgrund, dank, trotz, ungeachtet, wegen, … zufolge.
Prepositions with Articles
Sometimes prepositions are combined with a definite article (der, die, das,…).
For these preposition + article combinations, you should always form a contraction:
- an + dem = am
- an + das = ans
- bei + dem = beim
- in + dem = im
- in + das = ins
- von + dem = vom
- zu + dem = zum
- zu + der = zur
For all two-case prepositions (those that sometimes take two different cases) as well as „durch“, „um“, and „für“, just add the last letter of the definite article in informal speech. But: Grammatically correct is separated!
- auf + das = aufs
- für + das = fürs
- durch + das = durchs
- um + das = ums
- hinter + dem = hinterm
- hinter + das = hinters
- über + dem = überm
- über + das = übers
- vor + dem = vorm
- vor + das = vors
Example:
- „Ich gehe zum Bahnhof.“ ⇒ Grammatically correct.
- „Ich gehe zu dem Bahnhof.“ ⇒ Grammatically wrong.
- „Ich bin im Bahnhof.“ ⇒ Grammatically correct.
- „Ich bin in dem Bahnhof.“ ⇒ Grammatically wrong.
- „Ich gehe aufs Dach.“ ⇒ Informal speech
- „Ich gehe auf das Dach.“ ⇒ Grammatically correct.
- „Ich bin hinterm Haus.“ ⇒ Informal speech
- „Ich bin hinter dem Haus.“ ⇒ Grammatically correct.
Further Information
- In the lectures Locative Prepositions and Two Way Prepositions you learn everything about prepositions that refer to a position or location.
- The lecture Questions with Prepositions explains how to ask something with a preposition.
- Some verbs use a prepositional complement: Verbs with Prepositions.
- Each preposition determines which of the four German Cases we use: Nominative, Accusative, Dative or Genitive.
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