B1 · Prepositions · about 4 minutes
Prepositions that belong to a verb
warten auf, sich freuen über, denken an
The preposition is part of the verb, it fixes the case, and it almost never matches the English one.
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“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 2 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need5
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- die Antwortanswer
- die Familiefamily
- das Projektproject
- sich bewerbento apply
- die Kunstart
Understand
RememberLearn the verb and its preposition as one word.
- Signal words
- auf
- an
- über
- für
- mit
- von
- nach
- um
- vor
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in German.
| warten auf + accusative | Ich warte auf den Bus. |
| denken an + accusative | Ich denke an dich. |
| sich freuen auf + accusative | Ich freue mich auf das Wochenende. |
| sich freuen über + accusative | Ich freue mich über dein Geschenk. |
| teilnehmen an + dative | Sie nimmt am Kurs teil. |
| sich interessieren für + accusative | Er interessiert sich für Musik. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The verb decides both the preposition and the case, and neither is negotiable.
Wir warten auf die Antwort.We are waiting for the answer.
Two-way prepositions lose their movement rule inside a verb pairing.
Er denkt an seine Familie.He is thinking about his family.
sich freuen auf looks forward, sich freuen über looks back.
Ich freue mich auf den Urlaub.I am looking forward to the holiday.
For a thing rather than a person, the question and the answer use a da- or wo- form.
Worauf wartest du? — Darauf.What are you waiting for? — For that.
Example sentences
Ich warte seit einer Stunde auf ihn.I have been waiting an hour for him.
Sie erinnert sich an den Tag.She remembers the day.
Wir sprechen über das Projekt.We are talking about the project.
8 more example sentences
Er hat sich für die Stelle beworben.He applied for the job.
Das hängt vom Wetter ab.That depends on the weather.
Sie bittet um Hilfe.She is asking for help.
Ich ärgere mich über den Lärm.The noise annoys me.
Wir hoffen auf gutes Wetter.We are hoping for good weather.
Er leidet unter dem Stress.He suffers from the stress.
Es geht um die Miete.It is about the rent.
Worüber lacht ihr?What are you laughing about?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English "wait for" makes für the obvious choice, and it is simply not the preposition this verb takes. The same trap runs through the whole group: "think about" is denken an, "ask for" is bitten um, "depend on" is abhängen von. Translating the preposition is the one strategy guaranteed to fail here, which is why these verbs are worth learning with their preposition attached from the first time they are met.
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Many German verbs come with a preposition attached, and the pair has to be learned as one item. Warten aufplus accusativedenken anplus accusativesich freuen überplus accusativeteilnehmen anplus dative The preposition here has lost its ordinary meaning: auf in warten auf has nothing to do with being on top of anything.
Because the meaning is gone, the case cannot be worked out from it either. A two-way preposition like auf normally chooses accusative for movement and dative for position; in a verb pairing it simply has one fixed case that belongs to the pairing, and it never changes.
The overlap with English is poor and it is poor in an unhelpful way — close enough to feel safe. English waits for, German waits auf. English thinks about, German thinks an. There is no system to derive; there is a list to learn, and the fastest way to learn it is with the whole phrase in a sentence.
A closer look
The da- and wo- forms
When the object of such a verb is a thing rather than a person, German does not use a pronoun after the preposition. Instead it fuses da(r)- onto the front: darauf, daran, darüber, dafür. Ich warte darauf, not "auf es". The r appears only when the preposition starts with a vowel.
Questions work the same way with wo(r)-: Worauf wartest du? For a person the ordinary forms stay: Auf wen wartest du? This split — thing gets da-, person keeps the pronoun — is worth installing early, because it applies to every verb in this group.
Exceptions and special cases2
Exception
When the object is a whole clause
then the da- form announces it and dass follows.
Ich freue mich darauf, dass du kommst.I am looking forward to you coming.
Why? A preposition cannot govern a clause directly, so the da- form stands in for it.
Exception
When the same verb takes two different prepositions
then the meanings differ.
Ich freue mich über die Nachricht.I am pleased about the news.
Why? Sich freuen auf is anticipation and sich freuen über is pleasure at something already there.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
Reflexive and preposition together
A large group of these verbs is also reflexive: sich freuen auf, sich interessieren für, sich erinnern an, sich kümmern um, sich bewerben um. That means three things are learned at once — the reflexive pronoun, the preposition and the case — and it is why a full example sentence is a better vocabulary entry here than a dictionary form.
Worth knowing
The preposition survives in the noun
Nouns built from these verbs keep the preposition: die Freude über, das Interesse an, die Bewerbung um. Learning the verb pairing therefore pays twice.
The verbs on this page, in every form: warten · sich freuen · haben · kommen · sprechen · denken · erinnern