Prepositions Flashcards
Learning German prepositions and their associated cases
“aus” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
- I come from Los Angeles
- I’m getting my jacket from the classroom
- What’s your blouse made out of?
- She’s coming out of the house now
- Your mother did it out of love
- He canceled for [because of] personal reasons
Case: DATIVE
“[to be] from [somewhere/something]”
- Ich komme aus Los Angeles
- Ich hole meine Jacke aus dem Klassenzimmer
“made out of”
3. Aus welchem Material ist deine Bluse?
“out of/coming out of”
4. Sie geht aus dem Haus jetzt.
“out of/because of/due to”
- Deine Mutter tat es aus Liebe
- Er hat es aus persönlichen Gründen abgesagt
“in” - give the case that follows this preposition.
Translate:
- How often do you go to the movies?
- I’m at the movies
- I’ll be back in an hour
- What do you do in the summer?
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
Accusative
“to the” directional; implies movement
1. Wie oft gehst du ins Kino?
Dative
“in” locative; stationary
2. Ich bin im Kino [in+dem]
“in” temporal; implies period of time
- In einer Stunde bin ich wieder da
- Was machst du im Sommer [in+dem]?
“bis” -give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
- See you soon!(colloquial)
- From head to toe
Case: ACCUSATIVE
“until” (temporal)
1. Bis bald!
“to [until]” (locative)
2. Von Kopf bis Fuß
“durch” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
- A trip through Germany
- We’re traveling by way of the river
- 10 [divided] by 5 is 2
Case: ACCUSATIVE
“through” (locative)
1. eine Reise durch Deutschland
“by way of [through; via]” (locative)
2. Wir reisen durch den Fluss
“by” mathematical expression:
3. 10 [geteilt] durch 5 ist gleich 2
“für” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
- I would die for you
- Institute of General Physics
- We’re traveling to Berlin for three weeks [indicating that we are going to be there for a specific amount of time]
- We’re in Berlin for three weeks [indicating we’re there already and this is how long we’re staying]
Case: ACCUSATIVE
“for” (purpose)
1. ich wurde für dich sterben
“of” (purpose)
2. Institut für Allgemeine Physik
“for” (specific amount of time - future)
- Wir werden für drei Wochen nach Berlin reisen
- Wir sind für drei Wochen in Berlin
“gegen” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
- the fight against cancer
- against the wall
- He’s coming to the office around 9am
Case: ACCUSATIVE
“against” (locality)
- der Kampf gegen den Krebs
- gegen die Wand
“toward; about; approximately, around” (temporal)
3. Er kommt gegen 9:00 ins Büro
“ohne” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
- a world without war
- me without you
Case: ACCUSATIVE
“without”
- eine Welt ohne Krieg
- ich ohne dich
“um” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
- at ten o’clock
- by a hair (very nearly)
- it’s around the corner
Case: ACCUSATIVE
“at” (temporal)
1. um zehn Uhr
“at; by” (temporal)
2. um ein Haar
“at; around” (locality)
3. es ist um die Ecke
“wider” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
1. he is acting against the law
Case: ACCUSATIVE
Note: this is old-fashioned/formal; now used mainly as a prefix - use “gegen” instead
“against”
1. Er handelt wider das Gesetz
“an” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
“auf” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
“hinter” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
“neben” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
“über” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
“unter” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
“vor” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
“zwischen” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: two-way - ACCUSATIVE/DATIVE
“ab” - give the case that follows this preposition
- Starting on Febraury 24th
- On Saturday fly from Cologne
- We’re staying [coming] from Saturday [onward]
Case: DATIVE
“starting at/on” (time)
1. ab dem 24. Februar
“from/at” [a place/an origin] (temporal)
- am Samstag wir fliegen ab Köln
- Wir kommen ab Samstag
“außer” - give the case that follows this preposition
- She eats everything but [except] spinach.
- The film was everything but [except] funny
- I never read books, except when I have to.
Case: DATIVE (most of the time)
“but” in sense of “except”
- sie isst alles ausser Spinat
- der Film war alles ausser lustig
- ich lese nie Bücher, ausser wenn ich muss
“bei” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
- I work at BevMo
- I’m crashing at Kelly’s
- The school is by the pharmacy
Case: DATIVE
“in, at, with” (location related to a specific place - person’s house, place of work)
- ich arbeite bei BevMo
- ich penne bei Kelly
“by, near to, next to” (location related to a specific place - person’s house, place of work)
3. die Schule ist bei der Apotheke
“entgegen” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: DATIVE
“entsprechend” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: DATIVE
“mit” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: DATIVE
“nach” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: DATIVE
“seit” - give the case that follows this preposition
Translate:
1. We have been in Berlin for three weeks
Case: DATIVE
“for [since]” (indicating action began in the past and is continuing)
1. wir sind seit drei Wochen in Berlin.
“von” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: DATIVE
“zu” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: DATIVE
“anstatt” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: GENITIVE
“aufgrund” - give the case that follows this preposition
Case: GENITIVE
“außerhalb”
Case: GENITIVE
“dank”
Case: GENITIVE
“statt”
Case: GENITIVE
“während”
Case: GENITIVE
“wegen”
Case: GENITIVE
