Wechselpräpositionen – Two-way Prepositions
The two-way prepositions can take either the accusative or the dative case. They take the accusative when they describe movement from one place to another. They take the dative when there is either no movement, or when the movement remains within one place. When working with these prepositions, it might be useful to think of location (Platz – WO?) and movement (Bewegung zu – WOHIN?).
| Akkusativ | Dativ |
| Der Mann geht an den Baum. | Er sitzt eine Weile an dem Baum und guckt rum.
|
| The man goes to the tree. | He sat for a while against the tree, and looked around. |
| Der Mann steckt seine Hand in seine Tasche. | In der Tasche findet er einen Bonbon. |
| The man puts his hand into his pocket. | In his pocket he finds a candy.
|
AN and IN can be combined with the (masculine and neutral) articles that follow them:
| Neuter accusative | Masculine/neuter dative | |||||
| an + das | => | ans | an + dem | => | am | |
| in + das | => | ins | in + dem | => | im | |
| Ein einsamer Vogel sitzt in dem Baum. | => | Ein einsamer Vogel sitzt im Baum. |
| Er will in das Fenster fliegen. | => | Er will ins Fenster fliegen. |
| Die Frau lehnt sich an dem Baum. | => | Die Frau lehnt sich am Baum. |
The two-way prepositions
| an | at, next to (with contact) | Der Vater steht an der Mauer des Gartens. | The father stands at the wall of the garden. |
| auf | on top of (with contact), onto | Er klettert auf den Baum. | He climbs onto the tree. |
| in | in, inside | Er springt in den Garten. | He jumps into the garden. |
| hinter | behind | Die Hasen sind hinter den Karotten. | The rabbits are behind the carrots. |
| neben | next to (touching or not) | Er kniet neben den Karotten. | He is kneeling next to the carrots. |
| über | above (not touching), across (e.g., street) | Jetzt steht er drohend über den Hasen. | Now he is standing over the rabbits threateningly. |
| unter | below, under | Die Hasen laufen unter den Bäumen nach Hause. | The rabbits run home under the trees. |
| vor | in front of, before | Er steht vor der Tür.. | He stands in front of the door. |
| zwischen | between, in between | Zwischen den Bäumen sieht er die Hasen. | Between the trees he sees the rabbits. |
Just to review, here are the definite, indefinite and negative articles in the accusative and dative cases:
Accusative articles
| the | a/an | none | ||
| masculine | den Mann | einen Mann | keinen Mann | (man) |
| feminine | die Hexe | eine Hexe | keine Hexe | (witch) |
| neuter | das Mädchen | ein Mädchen | kein Mädchen | (girl) |
| plural | die Kinder | Kinder | keine Kinder | (children) |
Dative articles
| the | a/an | none | ||
| masculine | dem Mann | einem Mann | keinem Mann | (man) |
| feminine | der Hexe | einer Hexe | keiner Hexe | (witch) |
| neuter | dem Mädchen | einem Mädchen | keinem Mädchen | (girl) |
| plural | den Kindern | Kindern | keinen Kindern | (children) |
