2.5 KiB
2.5 KiB
title, description, source, crawled
| title | description | source | crawled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-Way Prepositions | The nine Wechselpräpositionen (an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen) — accusative for motion/direction, dative for location — with examples. | https://germanforenglishspeakers.com/prepositions/two-way-prepositions | 2026-06-30 |
Two-Way Prepositions
The following two-way prepositions are called Wechselpräpositionen in German (from the verb wechseln, to change). They're accusative when they express motion/direction, and dative when they express only location:
I put the book on the table. → ACC (motion toward) The book is on the table. → DAT (location)
| Preposition | English equivalent(s) | Accusative (motion) | Dative (location) |
|---|---|---|---|
| an | at, on | Setz dich an den Tisch. (Sit down at the table.) | Das Bild hängt an der Wand. (The picture is hanging on the wall.) |
| auf | on, up | auf den Berg steigen (to climb up the mountain) | Die Vase steht auf dem Tisch. (The vase is on the table.) |
| hinter | behind | ein Blick hinter die Kulissen (a glimpse behind the scenes) | Was passiert hinter den Kulissen? (What's happening behind the scenes?) |
| in | into/to [ACC], in [DAT] | Die Kinder gehen in die Schule. (The kids are going to school.) | Was hast du in der Schule gelernt? (What did you learn in school?) |
| neben | next to | Komm, setz dich neben mich. (Come sit next to me.) | Der Platz neben mir ist frei. (The seat next to me is free.) |
| über | over, above; about | Der Zug fuhr über die Brücke. (The train went over the bridge.) | Die Sonne hing über dem Meer. (The sun hung over the sea.) / Wir redeten über den Film. (We talked about the movie.) |
| unter | under, below; among | Schau unters Bett vorm Schlafengehen. (Look under the bed before sleep.) | Ein Monster versteckt sich unterm Bett. (A monster is hiding under the bed.) / ein Schaf unter Wölfen (a sheep among wolves) |
| vor | in front of; before; of | Ich stellte mich vors Mikrofon. (I went up to the microphone.) | Der Tisch steht vor dem Fenster. (The table is in front of the window.) / Angst vor Höhe (fear of heights) |
| zwischen | between | etwas zwischen die Finger bekommen (to get a hold of something) | zwischen den Jahren (between Christmas and New Year's) |
Note on an vs. auf: The word auf implies a position on top of something; an is more like "beside" or suspended from.