German Prepositions: Accusative, Dative, Genitive, and More

Prepositions are words used in combination with a noun or pronoun in order to build a relationship between two elements in a clause. For example: Das Brot steht auf dem Tisch. (The bread is on the table.) 

The myriad German prepositions necessitate cases for the related elements which follow. Yet, the necessary case is not always regular, as some prepositions (two- way prepositions) can employ a different case based on the context.

More details will be provided in Two-Way Prepositions.

Furthermore, the English translations supplied in the tables below are only approximate, and there are often discrepancies between when you would use one preposition in English and another in German. For example, in German, one is “in” the plane and not “on” the plane. Prepositions can only be mastered through practice. 

Accusative Prepositions

Accusative Prepositions
Deutsch	English
bis	until, to
durch	through, by, via
entlang	along, down
für	for
gegen	against, for, towards
ohne	without
um	around, for, at, about

Note: “bis” is most often used in combination with the prepositions “zu” or “auf”, or alternatively without an article following it.

Examples

1. Ich warte auf das Ende der Schimpfworte von Christoph. (I’m waiting for Christoph’s rant to end.)

2. Meine Schwester hatte durch die Geschichte von Josh Albträume. (My sister had nightmares due to Josh’s story.)

3. In Christophs Geschichte geht es um ein U-Boot und ein geheimnisvolles Meerestier. (Christoph’s story is about a submarine and a mysterious sea creature.) Note: that in this example, both “ein U-Boot” and “ein geheimnisvolles Meerestier” are in accusative, as they both are affected by the accusative preposition “um”

Dative Prepositions

Dative Prepositions
Deutsch	English
ab	from
aus	from, out of
außer	except, out of
bei	near, at
dank	thanks to
entgegen	against
gegenüber	opposite, towards, compared to
gemäß	corresponding to
laut	according to
mit	with
nach	after, behind, towards, according to, for
seit	since, for
von	from, of, by, about, on
zu	towards, regarding, at, by, for, into
zufolge	according to

Examples

1. Ihr könnt alles außer dem Apfel essen. (You can eat anything except the apple.)

2. Ich habe dich seit der Kindheit geliebt. (I have loved you since childhood.)

Genitive Prepositions

Genitive Prepositions
Deutsch	English
anstatt	instead of
außerhalb	outside of, beyond
beiderseits	on both sides of
diesseits	this side of
innerhalb	within
jenseits	beyond
oberhalb	above
statt	instead of
trotz	despite
unterhalb	below
wegen	because of, for
während	while

Examples

1. Wegen des französischen Käses und Weins hat er 5 Kilo zugenommen. (Because of the French cheese and wine, he gained 5 kilos.)

2. Trotz der Gewichtszunahme schaffte er es, den Marathon in unter drei Stunden zu laufen. (Despite the weight gain, he still managed to run the marathon in under three hours.)

Two-Way Prepositions

These prepositions can take either accusative or dative, depending on the context.

Two-Way Prepositions
Deutsch	English
an	on, near, in, onto, against, for
auf	on, onto, in, at, to, for
hinter	behind, after, beyond
in	in, within, at, by, into
neben	next to, near, in addition to, compared to
entlang	along
über	above, over, about, through, via, during, for
unter	under, among
vor	ahead of, prior to, ago, from
zwischen	between

Examples

1. Ich versuche, unter das Bett zu kriechen. (I am trying to crawl under the bed.)

2. Ich kann die Kinder unter dem Bett kriechen hören. (I can hear the children crawling underneath the bed.) In the first example, the action of crawling in the direction of under the bed forces the accusative; in the second example, the action of crawling, while being underneath the bed forces the dative.

3. Markus sprang auf das Bett. (Markus jumped onto the bed.)

4. Die Kinder springen auf dem Bett. (The kids are jumping on the bed.) In the first example, Markus jumped onto the bed, forcing accusative. Once he was already on the bed with his sister (the kids), he is jumping on top of the bed, forcing dative

Contractions

Contractions are a formation constructed to simplify the combination of a preposition and an article. For example, the preposition “an” and the article “das” will form “ans”. They are not grammatically necessary, but more often used than not used. Note that “an” in conjunction with “die”, “der”, “den”, etc. will not form a contraction. 

Contractions
Preposition	Article	Contraction
an	das	ans
an	dem	am
auf	das	aufs
bei	dem	beim
durch	das	durchs
für	das	fürs
in	das	ins
in	dem	im
über	das	übers
um	das	ums
unter	das	unters
von	dem	vom
vor	das	vors
vor	dem	vorm
zu	dem	zum
zu	der	zur

Examples

1. Ich bin schon am Bahnhof. (I’m already at the train station.)

2. Wir fahren zum Supermarkt. (We’re driving to the supermarket.)

What to Read Next

• Basic German Grammar Structure for Beginners
• German Declensions: Rules, Regulations, and Chart
• German Nouns: Gender, Masculine, Feminine, and Plural Forms
• German Articles: Definite, Indefinite, Negative, and Zero
• German Pronouns: Personal, Possessive, Reflexive, Table, and More
• German Clauses: Independent, Dependent, and Types
• German Adverbs: Explanation, List, and Usage

Or go back to our Learn German Language page for more learning resources.