German Prepositions

Prepositions are useful for giving and receiving directions. Prepositions show the relationship of a noun to another word in a sentence. Prepositions are sometimes called structural
words, because these words have little meaning in isolation, but are used to link together items from the major word-classes of nouns, adjectives and verbs. This enables more
complex structures to be built up. Prepositions usually precede nouns or pronouns in a sentence.

The following table has some useful prepositions:

German

Pronunciation

English

auf

ouf

On

bei

bay

At

fern

feRn

Far

gegen

gey-guhn

Against

hinter

hin-tuhR

Behind

In

in

In

nach

naCH

After

nah

nah

Near

neben

ney-buhn

Next to

ohne

oh-nuh

Without

um.zu

oom.tsew

In order to

unter

oon-tuhR

Under

von

fon

From

vor

foR

In front of

zu, nach

tsew, naCH

To, At

zwischen

tsvi-shuhn

Between

In English we can simply place any preposition in front of any noun or in front of the pronouns 'me, us, you, him, her, it' and 'them' without complication. In German, each preposition
requires the noun or pronoun following to be a particular case, generally DO (direct object) or IO (indirect object).

Some prepositions require DO exclusively, some IO exclusively, and some require either DO or IO according to the sense. It is impossible to translate prepositions from one
language to another out of context. You can only learn prepositions by finding them and learning to use them in genuine contexts, noting any particularly idiomatic or exceptional
usage. Here are some common English equivalents grouped according to the case required:

DO Prepositions:

durch
through, by, by means of
fr
for
gegen
against, towards
ohne
without
um
round, at (time of day)

IO Prepositions:
aus
out of, from
bei
with, at (so-and-so's house), near, in (such-and-such conditions or weather), during in the process/course of
mit
with
nach
to (certain locations, including one's own house 'nach Hause', after (time), according to
seit
since, for (period of time up to now)
von
from (place and time), by (indicating agency or authorship), of (possession)
zu

to (certain locations), at (e.g. home, 'zu Hause')