German Prepositions: Which Case Each One Takes, in One Chart

A German preposition makes one decision before you have chosen a single other word: the case of the noun that follows it.

In English a preposition is just a small word pointing at something. In German it is a small word with a fixed opinion about grammar. Mit takes the dative, always. Für takes the accusative, always. The noun after it could be the subject, the object or anything else in the wider sentence, and it does not matter: inside the prepositional phrase, the preposition wins. That makes prepositions the tidiest part of the German case system, because the case is set by a word you can see rather than by a job you have to work out. It is also the least forgiving part, because a German listener hears mit den Mann as plainly wrong.

The chart

Four groups, and most of the common prepositions fit in the first three:

Learn the first two rows as lists and the third as a rule. The fourth can wait.

The accusative five

Durch (through), für (for), gegen (against), ohne (without) and um (around, at a time). Only the masculine singular visibly changes in the accusative, so this is where you see it:

Wir gehen durch den Park. - We walk through the park.

Das Geschenk ist für den Mann. - The present is for the man.

Er ist gegen den Plan. - He is against the plan.

Ich komme ohne meinen Bruder. - I am coming without my brother.

Pronouns change too, and that is the form you will use most: für mich, für dich, ohne ihn. And um is the preposition for clock times: um acht Uhr, at eight o'clock.

The dative seven

Aus (out of, from), bei (at, near, at someone's place), mit (with), nach (after, to), seit (since), von (from, of) and zu (to). Learners are often taught to chant them in exactly that order, and it is worth doing the same, because these seven are among the commonest words in the language and every one of them takes the dative without exception.

The dative changes more than the accusative does. der and das become dem, die becomes der, and the plural becomes den with an extra -n on the noun, as the plurals page explains:

Ich fahre mit dem Bus. - I am going by bus.

Er kommt aus London. - He comes from London.

Ich bin bei meiner Mutter. - I am at my mother's.

Das Buch ist von meinem Vater. - The book is from my father.

Ich spiele mit den Kindern. - I play with the children.

Bei is the one English has no single word for. It means at the place of a person or business, which is why bei meiner Mutter is at my mother's house and beim Arzt is at the doctor's.

Two-way prepositions: where to, or where?

Nine prepositions can take either case: an (at, on a vertical surface), auf (on top of), hinter (behind), in (in, into), neben (next to), über (above, over), unter (under), vor (in front of, before) and zwischen (between). They are all about position, and the rule that picks the case is about movement:

• Accusative when the sentence answers wohin? Where to? Something is moving into a new position.
• Dative when the sentence answers wo? Where? Something is already where it is.

Ich gehe in die Stadt. - I am going into town. (where to: accusative)

Ich bin in der Stadt. - I am in town. (where: dative)

German makes this easier than it sounds by pairing its verbs. Verbs of putting take the accusative, verbs of being in position take the dative, and they come in matched sets:

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.

One trap: movement is not enough on its own. It has to be movement into a place. Walking about inside the park is still location, so wir laufen im Park is dative even though everyone's legs are moving. Only walking into it, in den Park, earns the accusative.

The contractions you will actually hear

Several preposition-plus-article pairs merge in normal German, and the merged form is not casual; it is the standard one:

The case is still sitting inside each one. Im is dative, so it means location; ins is accusative, so it means movement. Hear the s on the end and you know something is going somewhere.

Going places: nach, zu or in?

English uses to for every destination. German splits it three ways, and this is the preposition question beginners get wrong most:

• nach for towns and most countries, which have no article, and for going home: nach London, nach Amerika, nach Hause.
• zu for people, and for places you visit rather than enter: zu meiner Mutter, zum Arzt, zur Schule.
• in plus the accusative for going into a place: in die Stadt, ins Büro.

And being at home is zu Hause, not in Hause. nach Hause goes home, zu Hause is already there, and the -e on Hause in both phrases is a fossil of an old dative ending that survives today only in a handful of set phrases.

Time: um, am, im, seit and vor

Time prepositions follow a pattern too. Um for clock times, am for days and parts of the day, im for months, seasons and a few set phrases: um acht Uhr, am Abend, im Moment (at the moment).

Two matter more than the rest, because English speakers translate them wrongly:

Ich wohne seit zwei Jahren hier. - I have lived here for two years.

Ich war vor einer Woche hier. - I was here a week ago.

Seit plus the present tense is how German says something started in the past and is still going on. English uses the perfect (have lived); German does not. And ago is not an adverb in German at all but vor with the dative, placed in front of the time.

The genitive four

Wegen (because of), während (during), statt (instead of) and trotz (despite) take the genitive in writing:

wegen des Unfalls - because of the accident

während der Woche - during the week

In speech, a great many Germans say wegen dem Unfall instead, and have done for a long time. Recognise the genitive when you read it; produce whichever one you like when you speak.

Verbs that bring their own preposition

Plenty of German verbs come welded to a particular preposition, just as English says wait for and think about. The preposition rarely matches the English one, so learn the pair as a unit:

Ich warte auf den Bus. - I am waiting for the bus.

Ich denke an dich. - I am thinking of you.

Wir sprechen über den Film. - We are talking about the film.

Er hat Angst vor dem Hund. - He is afraid of the dog.

With a two-way preposition in one of these pairs, the movement rule switches off: nothing is going anywhere when you wait for a bus, yet warten auf takes the accusative. The case is fixed by the verb, and a good rule of thumb is that auf and über in these pairs almost always take the accusative, while vor takes the dative. When you learn the verb, learn the preposition and its case with it.

Mistakes English speakers make

• Translating for as für in time expressions. I have lived here for two years is seit, not für. Für is for a stretch of time seen as a whole, usually one that is planned or still ahead: für eine Woche for a week you have booked.
• Using zu for towns. nach London, never zu London. Zu is for people and places you go to, not cities.
• Dative after movement. Ich gehe in der Stadt means you are walking about in town, not going into it. If you are heading somewhere, the article after a two-way preposition is accusative.
• Leaving out the article. English says by bus; German says mit dem Bus. The article stays, and it is dative.
• mit for someone's house. I am at my mother's is bei meiner Mutter. Mit meiner Mutter means you are in her company, wherever that happens to be.

What to do next

Learn the accusative five and the dative seven as two lists this week, out loud, until they come out in order without thinking. That alone settles the case for most prepositional phrases you will ever build. Then drill the two-way rule with the verb pairs, legen against liegen and stellen against stehen, because the verb usually decides the case before you reach the preposition. The core prepositions all have word pages with worked examples, starting with mit, für and auf, and the German course puts them into sentences from the second chapter onwards.