While teaching online German classes, I often meet students who struggle with prepositions. They cannot see the wood for the trees, and only the thought of choosing “für,” “von,” or “nach” causes headaches!  But there is a rescue insight – In this post, you learn how to find the correct preposition in German.

Prepositions in German

In my personal opinion, German prepositions are one of the biggest challenges. However, this is not restricted to German but applies to all languages. The reason is that most of the time, they contradict different languages the students already speak and know. Therefore one cannot simply use the same preposition we use in the first or second language for the same verb.

For example:

In German, we say “glauben an etwas” but in English, it is “believe in something”. Also, in German, we say “hoffen auf etwas” while in English, it is “hope for something.”

Support my free blog content with a kind donation. Thank you!

Fixed prepositions in German

However, there is a little trick that can help you to make your life easier. As in most of their languages, there are fixed prepositions that we have to use with a particular verb. In English, “I hope for” and the “for” will always stay the same and cannot be changed.  Luckily, we have the same in German.

This means that if you know that “träumen” (to dream) always appears with the preposition “von,” you can quickly start building your sentences with more confidence and focus on other aspects of your message. You simply need to study the verbs together with their fixed prepositions in German. 

Advanced German and prepositions

Studying these verbs and their fixed prepositions will assist you in tests and later on in your German studies when you need to transform them as in:

“Ich träume von dem Auto. – Ich träume davon.” (I dream of the car. – I dream of it). 

The importance of the correct preposition

As a third aspect, choosing the wrong preposition might change the whole meaning of your sentence. As a consequence, it might throw you in tricky situations which could become a little awkward.

The most essential German verbs with fixed prepositions:

antworten auf (Akk) → to answer to

anfangen mit (Dat) → to start with

aufhören mit (Dat) → to stop

beginnen mit (Dat) → to start with

berichten über (Akk) → to report about

bitten um (Akk) → to ask for

danken für (Akk) → to thank for

denken an (Akk) → to think about

diskutieren mit (Dat) → to discuss

entschuldigen für (Akk) → to apologize for

s. erinnern an (Akk) → to remember

s. erholen von (Dat) → to recover from

erzählen von (Dat) → to tell about

fragen nach (Dat) → ask for

glauben an (Akk) → to believe in

gehören zu (Dat) → to belong to

helfen bei / mit (Dat) → to help with

hoffen auf  (Dat) → to hope for

s. informieren über (Akk) → to inform

s. interessieren für (Akk) → to be interested in

lachen über (Akk) → to laugh about

reden über (Akk) → to talk about

sprechen über (Akk) → to speak about

sprechen mit (Dat) → to speak with

telefonieren mit (Dat) → to call with

träumen von (Dat) → to dream of

nachdenken über (Akk) → to think about

s. verabschieden von (Dat) → to say goodbye to

verliebt sein in (Akk) → to be in love with

warten auf (Akk) → to wait for

Now, as you are a pro with the prepositions in German, you can deepen your knowledge by downloading the free worksheet for verbs with fixed prepositions (including answers).

Viel Erfolg und bis bald!

Steffie

Hi there! Though I provide all blog content for free, your support will be very much appreciated. 🙂 

Please support my work!

Search blog