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OBJECTIVE:
Learn a difficult area of any language ... prepositions!
TASK:
Memorize! Study! Learn! ... and memorize some more!
PERPLEXED?
It might just be gas ...
Choose an area to study:
Accusative prepositions
Dative prepositions
Two-way prepositions
Genitive prepositions
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RECOMMENDED STUDY

Learn all of these prepositions at one sitting as a single sentence! Just say them like this. You're saying: "aus, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, zu."
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Dative Prepositions

The DATIVE PREPOSITIONS are always followed by the dative case. The best way to deal with these is to simply follow the same format you used for the accusative prepositions: *(prep) dem, (prep) der, (prep) dem, (prep) den. These still follow the order of masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural.

When you are learning nouns, be sure you learn them by their gender:

Masculine "DER" --- Feminine "DIE" --- Neuter "DAS" --- Plural "DIE" (all genders)

Once you realize that a noun is masculine, you'll be ready to respond with a "dem" after these prepositions - after just having practiced as you've been practicing. The same will occur for feminine and neuter.

This should be making sense by now, and will actually become easier very quickly. Every time you practice these concepts, you internalize more of what it's like to "be" German!
Aus
out of, from (origin), out
*Practice: aus dem, aus der, aus dem, aus den
... aus dem Magen
... out of the stomach
... aus der Straße
... out of the street
... aus dem Hotel
... out of the hotel
... aus England
... from England
... aus Not
... out of need
Bei
at, with (self)
*Practice: bei dem, bei der, bei dem, bei den
... bei Nacht
... at night
... bei dem Metzger
... at the butcher's
... bei der Post
... at the Post Office
... bei dem Abendessen
... during dinner
... bei mir
... with me, on myself
There is a contracted form of the combination "bei dem":
BEI DEM can be shortened to "beim."
Gegenüber
across from,
on the other side of
*Practice: gegenüber dem, gegenüber der, gegenüber dem, gegenüber den
... dem Hotel gegenüber
... across from the hotel
... gegenüber dem Manne
... across from the man
... gegenüber der Straße
... across the street
... dem Bahnhof gegenüber
... across from the train station
This preposition was originally established as a genitive preposition, but has become more and more frequently used with dative forms, and is now acceptable as either dative or genitive.
Mit
with, along
*Practice: mit dem, mit der, mit dem, mit den
... mit so viel Ärger
... with so much frustration
... mit seinem Onkel
... with his uncle
... mit der Tasche
... with the (her) handbag
... mit dem Kind
... with the child
... mit uns
... with us
... mit großen Schuhen
... with big shoes
Nach
after (event),
to (destination)
*Practice: nach dem, nach der, nach dem, nach den
... nach heute
... after today
... nach dem Konzert
... after the concert
... nach der Hochzeit
... after the wedding
... nach dem Einkaufen
... after shopping
... nach München
... to Munich
... nach Dir
... after you (familiar)
Seit
since, ever since
*Practice: seit dem, seit der, seit dem, seit den
... seit Mitternacht
... since midnight
... seit dem Tag
... since the (that) day
... seit der Revolution
... since the revolution
... seit dem Wochenende
... since the (that) weekend
... seit gestern
... ever since yesterday
... seit zehn Uhr
... since 10:00
Von
from, of
*Practice: von dem, von der, von dem, von den
... von hier
... from here
... von dem Bürgermeister
... from the mayor, the mayor's
... von der Stadt
... from the town
... von dem Mädchen
... from the young lady
... von Dir
... from you (familiar)
... von 10:00 bis 12:00
... from 10:00 to 12:00
There is a contracted form of the combination "von dem":
VON DEM can be shortened to "vom."
Zu
to
*Practice: zu dem, zu der, zu dem, zu den
... zu den Menschen
... to the people
... zu dem richtigen Mann
... to the right man
... zu der Frau
... to the lady
... zu dem Kind
... to the child
... zur Zeit
... at this time
... zum Abendessen
... for dinner (Expression)
There are contracted forms of these combinations:
ZU DEM can be shortened to "zum."
ZU DER can be shortened to "zur."