A2 · Prepositions · about 4 minutes
Two-way prepositions: in, auf
where against where to
Dative for a position, accusative for a movement — one question that settles all nine.
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“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need6
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- sitzento sit, to be sitting
- die Flaschebottle
- stellento put (upright)
- schmalnarrow
- der Wegway, path
- die Küchekitchen
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
Rememberwo — dative. wohin — accusative.
- Signal words
- in
- an
- auf
- über
- unter
- vor
- hinter
- neben
- zwischen
- wo
- wohin
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.
| where — dative | Das Bild hängt an der Wand. |
| where to — accusative | Ich hänge das Bild an die Wand. |
| state verbs — dative | liegen, stehen, sitzen, hängen |
| placing verbs — accusative | legen, stellen, setzen, hängen |
| contractions | im, am, ins, ans, aufs, vors |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Dative answers wo — where something is.
Wir sitzen im Garten.We are sitting in the garden.
Accusative answers wohin — where something is going.
Wir gehen in den Garten.We are going into the garden.
liegen, stehen, sitzen and hängen describe a state and take the dative.
Die Flasche steht auf dem Tisch.The bottle is on the table.
legen, stellen, setzen and hängen describe placing and take the accusative.
Stell die Flasche auf den Tisch.Put the bottle on the table.
Example sentences
Der Schlüssel liegt auf dem Tisch.The key is on the table.
Ich lege den Schlüssel auf den Tisch.I am putting the key on the table.
Sie wohnt in der Stadt.She lives in town.
10 more example sentences
Sie fährt in die Stadt.She is going into town.
Zwischen den Häusern ist ein schmaler Weg.There is a narrow path between the houses.
Das Bild hängt über dem Sofa.The picture hangs above the sofa.
Häng das Bild bitte über das Sofa.Please hang the picture above the sofa.
Die Katze schläft unter dem Bett.The cat is asleep under the bed.
Der Ball ist unter das Bett gerollt.The ball rolled under the bed.
Wir warten vor dem Kino.We are waiting in front of the cinema.
Stell dich bitte neben mich.Please stand next to me.
Im Sommer sind wir oft am See.In summer we are often at the lake.
Setz dich doch ans Fenster.Do sit by the window.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The wrong sentence is grammatical and means "I am walking around inside the kitchen", which is rarely what anybody wants to say. Because both versions are possible sentences, nothing corrects you — the listener simply understands something else. Ask the question before you choose the case: wo or wohin.
Quick check
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Practise
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Your progress
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Nine prepositions take either case: in, an, auf, über, unter, vor, hinter, neben, zwischen. Which one they take is not arbitrary and not a property of the preposition — it is a question about the sentence.
Ask wo? — where is it? — and the answer is dative. Ask wohin? — where is it going? — and the answer is accusative. Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch is a position; ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch is a movement onto it. Same preposition, same table, different question.
The verb usually gives it away, which is why German keeps three pairs of them: liegen/legen, stehen/stellen, sitzen/setzen, plus hängen doing both. The first of each pair is a state and takes the dative; the second is putting something somewhere and takes the accusative.
A closer look
What the two cases are really marking
The dative here is doing what it does everywhere else: marking something as a setting rather than as a target. The accusative marks a goal — the thing the action is aimed at. So the two-case prepositions are not an exception to the case system, they are the clearest demonstration of it, because the same preposition shows both meanings side by side.
English marks the difference too, just not with cases and not consistently: "in" against "into", "on" against "onto". It runs out of pairs almost at once — there is no "behindto" or "underto" — and falls back on the verb. German never runs out, because the marking is on the article rather than on the preposition.
Exceptions and special cases2
Exception
When the phrase is a time expression with in, an or vor
then the dative is used regardless: in einer Woche, am Montag, vor drei Jahren.
Vor drei Jahren sind wir hergezogen.We moved here three years ago.
Why? Time is being treated as a setting rather than as a destination.
Exception
When the verb takes a fixed preposition as part of its meaning — warten auf, denken an, sich freuen auf
then the case is fixed by the verb and has nothing to do with movement.
Ich warte auf den Bus.I am waiting for the bus.
Why? The preposition is no longer describing a place at all, so the question wo or wohin does not apply.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
The contractions differ by case
The dative contractions are im, am, vorm, hinterm, unterm; the accusative ones are ins, ans, aufs, vors, übers. So the contraction itself tells you the case, which makes it a useful check when writing: if you meant a movement and wrote im, something has gone wrong.
Ich gehe ins Kino und sitze im Kino.I am going to the cinema and sitting in the cinema.
Worth knowing
Three pairs of verbs, and one that does both
Liegen – legen, stehen – stellen, sitzen – setzen: the first of each is strong and intransitive and describes a state; the second is weak and transitive and describes putting something there. Hängen is both, and tells them apart by its own forms: strong (hing) for the state, weak (hängte) for the action.
Das Bild hing an der Wand; ich hängte es dorthin.The picture hung on the wall; I hung it there.
The verbs on this page, in every form: sein · stehen · gehen · fahren · sitzen · stellen · wohnen