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Prepositions are one of the peskiest aspects of a language to master, since their use is highly idiosyncractic. Learners of German face special challenges when translating English at and to. These prepositions express location (marked here by X) and direction (Ú) respectively. The German equivalents vary according to context. Here are guidelines for many common cases involving place expressions.
Names of Continents, Countries and Regions without Article, and Cities
X in (dat) versus Ú nach (dat)
| X | I'd love to travel around in Europe. | Ich möchte liebend gern in Europa herumreisen. |
| Ú | He'll take us to Aachen. | Er bringt uns nach Aachen. |
Names of Countries and Regions with Article
| X | She was in the States all summer. | Sie war den ganzen Sommer in den Staaten. |
| Ú | This train isn't going to Switzerland, it's going to Austria. | Dieser Zug fährt nicht in die Schweiz, er fährt nach Österreich. |
Names of People, Stores etc.
X bei (dat) versus Ú zu (dat)
| X | I bought it was at Hechinger's. | Ich habe es bei Hechinger gekauft. |
| Ú | Are you going to the supermarket now? | Gehst du jetzt zum Supermarkt? |
Certain Adverbs of Location
| X | Karin is upstairs now. | Karin ist jetzt oben. |
| Ú | Could you please come upstairs for a moment? | Kommst du bitte einen Augenblick nach oben? |
A Man's Home is His Hassle
home
X zu Hause = (at) home / Ú nach Hause
Morgen fahre ich nach Hause. Ich bleibe 3 Wochen zu Hause.
house Where we say at / to X's
house/place/etc., German omits all mention of the
house and uses bei/zu + (pro)noun:
| X | I spent the whole weekend at my sponsors' house. | Ich habe das ganze Wochenende bei meiner Gastfamilie verbracht. |
| Ú | Are you coming to my place tonight? | Kommst du heute abend zu mir? |
Same Two-Way Preposition for Both Location and Direction
X an, auf, in (dat) versus Ú an, auf, in (acc); depends on the appropriate preposition for the location (refer also to handout German Two-Way Prepositions), z.B.
| an | Bord, Fenster, Fluss, Grenze, Meer, See (fem. 'sea', masc. 'lake'), Strand, Tafel, Telefon, Tisch (at the table), Uni(versität), Wand |
| auf | Land (rural area), Insel(name, z.B. Helgoland), Schule, Schiff, Tisch (on the table), Universität (also an, especially with the name of the university), Zimmer (auch in); Amt, Bahnhof, Bank, Flughafen, Post (public services) |
| in | Land (political entity), Stadt (downtown); Bibliothek, Büro, Kino, Kirche, Kneipe, Oper, Restaurant, Theater... |
| Ú | Do you go to university yet? | Gehst du schon auf die Uni? |
| X | No, I'm still in (college-prep) high school. | Nein, ich bin noch auf dem Gymnasium. |
| Ú | Can you drive me downtown afterwards? | Kannst du mich nachher in die Stadt fahren? |
| Ú | 15 years ago we moved to the country. | Vor 15 Jahren sind wir aufs Land gezogen. |
| Ú | I'll come to the phone in a moment. | Ich komme gleich ans Telefon. |
| Type | Location X | Direction Ú |
| Name of person, store..., 'to/at someone's home' | bei + dative | zu + dative |
| Name of country, city, region without definite article | in + dative | nach + dative |
| Name of country, city, region with definite article | in + dative | in + accusative |
| Certain location adverbs | adverb alone | nach + adverb |
| 'home' | zu Hause | nach Hause |
| Other situations where specific two-way preposition applies | preposition + dative | preposition + accusative |
Time Expressions
With Objects of Verbs and Adjectives
| My father gave this tie to me / ...me this tie. | Mein Vater hat mir diese Krawatte geschenkt. |
| She laughed at his jokes. | Sie hat über seine Witze gelacht. |
| I'm looking forward to vacation. | Ich freue mich auf den Urlaub. |
| Why is she angry at you? | Warum ist sie böse auf dich? |
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