German prepositions (space)

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German has many "two-way prepositions" that take dative case when describing a location and accusative case when describing a direction. See also German 'to put' for details.

straightforward translations (location: dative, direction: accusative)

• above = ÜBER
• across = ÜBER + accusative
• ahead of = VOR
• among = UNTER
• behind = HINTER
• below = UNTER
• beneath = UNTER
• beside = NEBEN
• between = ZWISCHEN
• close to = IN DER NÄHE + genitive (followed by an article) or IN DER NÄHE VON + dative (not followed by an article)
• in front of = VOR
• inside = IN
• out of = AUS + dative
• over = ÜBER
• through = DURCH + accusative
• under = UNTER
• within = INNERHALB + genitive

names of people, stores etc.

• location: BEI + dative
  • Hans ist bei seiner Freundin. = John is with his (girl-)friend.
  • Bei Aldi gibt es diese Woche wieder PCs. = Aldi [a cheap supermarket chain] has PCs again this week.
• direction: ZU + dative
  • Gehen wir zu dir oder zu mir? = Are we going to your place or mine?
• sending something to someone: AN + accusative
  • Ich schreibe einen Brief an meine Mutter. = I'm writing a letter to my mother.
• origin: VON + dative
  • Ich komme gerade von Maria. = I'm coming from Mary's place.
• at home (location): ZU HAUSE
  • Ich bin morgen nicht zu Hause. = I won't be at home tomorrow.
• home (direction): NACH HAUSE
  • Wir gehen bald nach Hause. = We're going home soon.

continent, country, region, city etc.

• location: IN + dative
  • in Asien/Deutschland/Burgund/Moskau = in Asia/Germany/Burgundy/Moscow
  • in den USA / in der Schweiz / im Westerwald / im Fichtelgebirge = in the US / in Switzerland/Westerwald/Provence/Fichtelgebirge
• direction without article: NACH + dative
  • nach Asien/Deutschland/Burgund/Moskau = to Asia/Germany/Burgundy/Moscow
• direction with article: IN + accusative
  • in die USA / in die Schweiz / in den Westerwald / ins Fichtelgebirge = to the US / to Switzerland/Westerwald/Fichtelgebirge
• origin: AUS + dative
  • aus Asien/Deutschland/Burgund/Moskau = from Asia/Germany/Burgundy/Moscow
  • aus den USA / aus der Schweiz / aus dem Westerwald / aus dem Fichtelgebirge = from the US / from Switzerland/Westerwald/Fichtelgebirge

movement from A to B

• starting point: AB + dative
  • Ab München nehmen wir den Zug. = (First, we'll go by car.) Starting in Munich, we'll take the train.
• end point: BIS (ZU) + dative
  • Bis zum Ziel sind es 42 km. = It's 42 km to the finish.
• destination: ZU + dative / NACH (without article)
  • Maria fährt zu ihrer Schwester. = Mary goes to her sister's house.
  • Maria fährt nach Leipzig. = Mary goes to Leipzig.
• both points in one sentence: VON + dative ... ZU + dative / NACH (without article)
  • Morgen fahre ich von Hamburg nach Berlin. = Tomorrow I'm going from Hamburg to Berlin.
  • Du gehst von deiner Schwester zu deiner Tante. = You go from your sister's place to your aunt's.

left or right

• absolute location: no preposition
  • Er steht links. = He's standing on the left.
• relative location: VON + dative
  • Maria steht links von Hans. = Mary is left of John.
• directly beside someone/something: NEBEN + dative
  • Maria steht links neben Hans. = Mary is standing beside John on the left.
• direction: NACH
  • Er macht einen Schritt nach rechts. = He makes one step to the right.

less obvious cases (location: dative, direction: accusative)

• inside something, especially buildings: IN
  • This is also used for words like Land (country/state) and Stadt (city/town).
  • Sie geht in die Stadt / ins Kino / ins Büro. = She goes to town / to the movies / to the office.
• on top of something: AUF
  • This is also used for islands and ships.
  • Wir sind auf dem Schiff / auf Rügen / auf dem / auf einem Bauernhof. = We're on the ship / on Rügen Island / on a farm.
• near, close to something (also metaphorically): AN
  • Maria will an den Fluss / an die Grenze / ans Meer / an den Strand / ans Telefon. = Mary wants to go to the river/border/sea/beach/telephone.
• at places like stations or airports or schools mentioned by name: AUF or AN
  • Wir gehen auf das Albert-Einstein-Gymasium. = We visit Albert Einstein High School.
  • Susi studiert an der Uni Bochum. = Sue studies at the University of Bochum.
  • Ich bin am / auf dem Flughafen. = I'm at the airport.

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