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RECOMMENDED
STUDY
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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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The TWO-WAY PREPOSITIONS
are followed by the accusative or dative case, depending
on contextual usage. If there is a sense of motion in the
action of the sentence, the accusative case usually follows.
Dative case is used where a location is identified - no
motion implied.
These are easily differentiated by thinking
of whether there is motion to a place as opposed to if something
is already there. For example: "The cat runs under
the house." Is the cat running TO under the house,
--- or is the cat already "under the house" and
running? The easiest one of these is obviously "in"
versus "into." But the others become just as simple
when you focus on "motion" versus "there."
The best way to deal with these is to simply
follow the same format you used for the previous prepositions
studied. 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 "den" or "dem"
after most of the prepositions studied - after just having
practiced orally a few times. The same will occur for feminine
and neuter.
Don't try to learn all of these prepositions
in one day or in one sitting, but keep working these drills
every other day or so. Every time you practice these concepts,
you internalize more of what it's like to "be"
German!
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An
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Acc:
onto (vertical) |
*Practice:
an den, an
die, an das,
an die |
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Dat:
on (vertical) |
*Practice:
an dem, an der,
an dem, an den
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(Acc) |
...
an den Schuh |
...
onto the shoe |
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(Dat) |
...
am (an dem) Schuh |
...
on the shoe |
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(Acc) |
...
an die Wand |
...
onto the wall |
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(Dat) |
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an der Wand |
...
on the wall |
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(Acc) |
...
ans (an das) Glas |
...
onto the glass |
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(Dat) |
...
am (an dem) Glas |
...
on the glass |
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(Acc) |
...
an die Fenster |
...
onto the windows |
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(Dat) |
...
an den Fenstern |
...
on the windows |
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| There are contracted forms of some of these
combinations: |
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AN DAS
can be shortened to "ans."
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AN DEM
can be shortened to "am."
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Auf
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Acc:
onto (horizontal) |
*Practice:
auf den, auf die,
auf das, auf
die |
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Dat:
on top of, upon |
*Practice:
auf dem, auf
der, auf dem,
auf den
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(Acc) |
...
auf den Boden |
...
onto the floor |
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(Dat) |
...
auf
dem Boden |
...
on the floor |
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(Acc) |
...
auf
die Seite |
...
onto the page |
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(Dat) |
...
auf
der Seite |
...
on the page |
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(Acc) |
...
auf
das Gesicht |
...
onto the face |
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(Dat) |
...
auf
dem Gesicht |
...
on the face |
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(Acc) |
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auf
die Bäume |
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onto the trees |
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(Dat) |
...
auf
den Bäumen |
...
on the trees |
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Hinter
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Acc:
(to) behind,
to the back |
*Practice:
hinter den, hinter die,
hinter das,
hinter
die |
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Dat:
behind, in back of |
*Practice:
hinter dem, hinter
der, hinter dem,
hinter den
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(Acc) |
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hinter den Bahnhof |
...
to the back of the train station |
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(Dat) |
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hinter
dem Bahnhof |
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behind the train station |
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(Acc) |
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hinter
die Frau |
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to behind the lady |
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(Dat) |
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hinter
der Frau |
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in back of the lady |
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(Acc) |
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hinter
das Haus |
...
to the back of the house |
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(Dat) |
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hinter
dem Haus |
...
behind the house |
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(Acc) |
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hinter
die Bäume |
...
to behind the trees |
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(Dat) |
...
hinter
den Bäumen |
...
behind the trees |
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In
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Acc:
into |
*Practice:
in den, in die,
in das,
in
die |
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Dat:
in, inside of |
*Practice:
in dem, in der,
in dem, in den
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(Acc) |
...
in den Bahnhof |
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into the train station |
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(Dat) |
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im
(in
dem) Bahnhof |
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inside of the train station |
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(Acc) |
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in
die Straße |
...
into the street |
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(Dat) |
...
in
der Straße |
...
in the street |
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(Acc) |
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ins
(in
das) Haus |
...
into the house |
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(Dat) |
...
im
(in
dem) Haus |
...
in the house |
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(Acc) |
...
in
die Bäume |
...
into the trees |
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(Dat) |
...
in
den Bäumen |
...
in the trees |
|
| There are contracted forms of some of these
combinations: |
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IN DAS
can be shortened to "ins."
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IN DEM
can be shortened to "im."
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Neben
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Acc:
(to) beside, (to) near |
*Practice:
neben den, neben die,
neben das,
neben
die |
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Dat:
by, beside, near, close to |
*Practice:
neben dem, neben
der, neben dem,
neben den
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(Acc) |
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neben den Bahnhof |
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(to) near the train station |
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(Dat) |
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neben
dem Bahnhof |
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by the train station |
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(Acc) |
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neben
die Frau |
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(to) near the lady |
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(Dat) |
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neben
der Frau |
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near the lady |
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(Acc) |
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neben
das Haus |
...
(to) near the house |
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(Dat) |
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neben
dem Haus |
...
near the house |
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(Acc) |
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neben
die Bäume |
...
(to) near the trees |
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(Dat) |
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neben
den Bäumen |
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near the trees |
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Über
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Acc:
(to) above, over |
*Practice:
über den, über die,
über das,
über
die |
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Dat:
above, over |
*Practice:
über dem, über
der, über dem,
über den
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(Acc) |
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über den Kopf |
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(to) over the head |
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(Dat) |
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über
dem Kopf |
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over the head |
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(Acc) |
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über
die Straße |
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(to) above the street |
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(Dat) |
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über
der Straße |
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above the street |
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(Acc) |
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über
das Hotel |
...
(to) above the hotel |
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(Dat) |
...
über
dem
Hotel |
...
above the hotel |
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(Acc) |
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über
die Blumen |
...
(to) above the flowers |
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(Dat) |
...
über
den Blumen |
...
above the flowers |
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Unter
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Acc:
(to) under, (to) below |
*Practice:
unter den, unter die,
unter das,
unter
die |
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Dat:
beneath, below, under, amongst |
*Practice:
unter dem, unter
der, unter dem,
unter den
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(Acc) |
...
unter den Bahnhof |
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(to) under the train station |
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(Dat) |
...
unter
dem Bahnhof |
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under the train station |
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(Acc) |
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unter
die Straße |
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(to) beneath the church |
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(Dat) |
...
unter
der Straße |
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beneath the church |
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(Acc) |
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unter
das
Haus |
...
(to) under the house |
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(Dat) |
...
unter
dem Haus |
...
under the house |
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(Acc) |
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unter
die Treppen |
...
(to) under the stairs |
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(Dat) |
...
unter
den Treppen |
...
under the stairs |
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Vor
|
Acc:
(to) in front of |
*Practice:
vor den, vor die,
vor das,
vor
die |
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Dat:
before, in front of |
*Practice:
vor dem, vor der,
vor dem, vor den
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(Acc) |
...
vor den Bahnhof |
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to the front of the train station |
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(Dat) |
...
vor
dem Bahnhof |
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at the front of the train station |
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(Acc) |
...
vor
die Hauptstraße |
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(to) before main street |
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(Dat) |
...
vor
der Hauptstraße |
...
before Main Street |
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(Acc) |
...
vor
das
Haus |
...
(to) the front of the house |
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(Dat) |
...
vor
demHaus |
...
in front of the house |
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(Acc) |
...
vor
die Hotels |
...
before the hotels |
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(Dat) |
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vor
den Hotels |
...
in front of the hotels |
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Zwischen
|
Acc:
(to) between |
*Practice:
zwischen den, zwischen die,
zwischen das,
zwischen
die |
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Dat:
between, betwixt |
*Practice:
zwischen dem, zwischen
der, zwischen dem,
zwischen den
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(Acc) |
...
zwischen die Lampe und die Couch |
...
(to) between the lamp and the couch |
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(Dat) |
...
zwischen der Lampe und der Couch |
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between the lamp and the couch |
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(Acc) |
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zwischen
den Mann und die Frau |
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(to) between the man and the woman |
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(Dat) |
...
zwischen
dem Mann und der Frau |
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between the man and the woman |
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(Acc) |
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zwischen
das Haus und den Baum |
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(to) between the house and the tree |
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(Dat) |
...
zwischen
dem Haus und dem Baum |
...
between the house and the tree |
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(Acc) |
...
zwischen
die
Bäume |
...
(to) between the trees |
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(Dat) |
...
zwischen
den Bäumen |
...
between the trees |
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