When it comes to German grammar learning, I always get asked one big question: “How can I learn those prepositions?” The answer is always the same:”You just have to learn them.”
The problem with prepositions is that they are not easy translatable. For example, in English we say ‘I’m on the bus’ which literally translated says ‘I’m on top of the bus’ in German. The Germans say ‘ich bin im Bus’ which means ‘I’m in the bus’ – not quite as bad as being on top of the bus!
The second, and bigger, problem is that some prepositions are followed by the accusative case (so you need to know your den, die, das), others by the dative (dem, der,dem) and others by either the accusative or dative – it’s enough to drive anybody mad!!!
(There is another group, those prepositions which take the genitive case, but we won’t mention them here because a lot of Germans don’t understand them either. Don’t tell them, this is our secret ;-))
So, is there at least a way to memorise which prepositions take which case?
Some people swear by mnemonics. I have to admit, they don’t work for me at all. I may remember the word or sentence but don’t recall what they represent. Others find them very useful, so here’s one for the accusative prepositions, which are:
für (for)
um (around/for/at (time)
durch (through)
gegen (against)
entlang (along)
bis (until)
ohne (without)
wider (against)
The letters in bold now read the words fudge bow. That doesn’t help me at all, but if it helps you, brilliant!
If you like classical music, you can revise those prepositions that take the dative with the Blue Danube:
Or you may prefer this version:
Or, the BBC website suggests singing them to the beginning of Good King Wenceslas.
The most trickiest prepositions are the two-way prepositions, because they take the accusative if the sentence talks about an action (you can ask ‘where to?’), or they take the dative because they are about position (ask ‘where?’).
To learn them, all you need is this video and I promise , you won’t forget them (nor the tune – sorry 😉 )
Enjoy!
Oh, and if anybody knows a song for the accusative prepositions, I’d love to know if there is something better than fudge bow!
Edited: Herr Antrim, who teaches German in the US, sent me his two versions to practise the dual prepositions. Feel free to use whichever you like best!
Excellent ideas there, Angelika!
Thank you, Suze!
Brilliant, Suzan, thank you!
Your method will merge well with the memory techniques I use to remember the new words.
Metivier actually figured that, when you place words in a memory palace, you can add a visual representation for their gender. So, for male words you’d use a mustache. For female words a skirt. Etc.
This will make it very hard to forget the preposition of any word. Though, you’ll need some time to prepare your memory palace.
(Got it from his post on https://unchainmybrain.com/memorize-vocabulary/)
Have you got any experience using Metiviers memory method for language learning?
Liebe Gruesse,
Denise
Thanks for stopping by, Denise.
None of these memory methods work for me. But I know they work for others, so I encourage anybody to try them and use them… if they like the method.
I belong to the group of German people who know the use of the genitive case :-). But indeed mostly the dative case is used. Perhaps they don´t know the interrogative pronoun “wessen”.
It’s a very elite group, don’t you think? 😉
I don’t know if it’s they can’t work out the ‘whose’ or if it’s just because with feminine nouns the genitive is the same as the dative case. It just confuses some people.
Interesting, in Russian will be the same “I’m in the bus ” as in German 🙂
Makes a lot more sense, don’t you think?
Hey, for the Akkusativ Prapositions I have used the german song Laurentia, as here on this website https://www.learn-german-smarter.com/learn-German-prepositions.html alternatively, I have come to the realisation that “We wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new yeear” also works as a tune. 🙂 Enjoy, and hope this info isn’t coming too late.
That’s brilliant, Viktor! Laurentia works perfect, thanks for sharing!
This is only really helpful if you’re British, but you can sing “Gegen, ohne, durch, um, fur” to the theme music from Eastenders.
Perfect! But what about the other 3 accusative prepositions?
Shouldnt the dativ prepositions include gegenüber? Shame as I like the blue danube idea.
It won’t fit, but they did mention it at the end.
To fit gegenüber in the blue danube song just say it as ge-gen-über in the second verse like this, aus ausser bei mit – nach seit – von zu
aus ausser beit mit – ge – gen – über.
And for the accusative prepositions you can use the song ‘London bridge is falling down’ which works pretty well, durch für gegen ohne um – ohne um – ohne um
durch für gegen ohne um – wider – bis bis
Brilliant! That should work.
I searched around and found a good way to remember DATIV and AKKUSATIVE prepositions: sing them in the rhythm of the song Brother John. You can find the song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frb-w7qyb88&t=13s
DATIV prepositions:
aus = out of, from
bei = at, amongst, with (like ‘chez’ in French)
mit = with
nach = after; to (country)
seit = since
von = from, of
zu = to, at
gegenüber (von) = opposite
außer = except, apart from
The rhythm:
aus, bei, mit, nach (2x)
seit, von, zu (2x)
immer mit dem Dativ (2x)
gegenüber außer (2x)
AKKUSATIVE prepositions:
für = for
um = round, around
bis = until
durch = through
ohne – without
gegen = against
entlang = along (usually placed after the noun, rather than before it)
wider = against, contrary to something
The rhythm:
für, um, bis, durch (x2)
ohne gegen (x2)
immer mit Akkusative (x2)
wider entlang (x2)
That works well, thank you!