Prepositions/Reference Words in German

Prepositions bring one or more things into a relationship. This way we can express ourselves more precisely to convey exactly what we mean to our conversation partners. Prepositions are also called reference words. Reference here is another word for relationship. One thing can be related to another thing:

• The dog stands in front of the cat.
• The train goes to Berlin.
• The dough is made from flour.

In this chapter, we'll look at these reference words more closely.

Beginner Level

Learning and practicing reference words or prepositions in a new language is often very difficult. This is because the rules for prepositions are not always clearly defined. Knowledge from other languages like your first language cannot always be transferred to German.

Nevertheless, some important rules can be summarized well. The following rules cover large parts of German prepositions.

Note

Prepositions can be divided into categories. The categories refer to the use of the preposition.

We want to look more closely at two categories of prepositions:

• Local prepositions, prepositions of place
• Temporal prepositions, prepositions of time

Local Prepositions

The word Local- comes from the Latin locus, which means something like place, space, or spot. So you can remember the technical term well, because these prepositions are about how things relate to each other in space.

Common Local Prepositions:

Preposition	English	Example	Usage
in	in/into	"Das Buch ist in der Tasche"	Inside something
auf	on/onto	"Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch"	On top of something
unter	under	"Die Katze ist unter dem Bett"	Below something
vor	in front of	"Der Hund steht vor der Tür"	In front of something
hinter	behind	"Das Auto parkt hinter dem Haus"	Behind something
neben	next to	"Der Stuhl steht neben dem Tisch"	Beside something

Temporal Prepositions

Temporal prepositions help us express when something happens.

Preposition	English	Example	Usage
um	at	"Das Meeting ist um 15 Uhr"	Specific time
am	on	"Am Montag habe ich frei"	Days of the week
im	in	"Im Winter ist es kalt"	Months/seasons
vor	before	"Vor dem Essen waschen wir Hände"	Before an event
nach	after	"Nach der Schule gehe ich nach Hause"	After an event

Exercise 1

Choose 5 objects in your room and describe their location using local prepositions. For example: "The lamp is on the desk."

Advanced Level

Prepositions with Cases

In German, prepositions determine which grammatical case to use. This is one of the most challenging aspects for learners.

Prepositions with Accusative (Akkusativ):

• durch, für, gegen, ohne, um

Prepositions with Dative (Dativ):

• aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu

Two-way Prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen):

These can take either accusative or dative depending on whether there's movement or location:

• an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen

Rule: Use accusative for movement (where to?), dative for location (where?).

Examples:

• "Ich gehe in die Schule" (accusative - movement)
• "Ich bin in der Schule" (dative - location)

Expert Level

Prepositional Phrases and Idioms

At the expert level, learn common prepositional phrases and idiomatic expressions:

• "Auf jeden Fall" (in any case)
• "In der Regel" (as a rule)
• "Von Zeit zu Zeit" (from time to time)
• "Unter anderem" (among other things)

Regional and Stylistic Variations

Different German-speaking regions may prefer different prepositions in certain contexts. Formal and informal speech also show variations in prepositional usage.