Prepositions are rather trickier in German than they are in English. They are one of the reasons that native English speakers beginning to learn
German learn the swear words first.
The trick to using a prepostion correctly in German is to remember that
your choice of preposition determines the case of the noun
phrase that follows it. The prepositions that determine any one case
are usually taught as a group.
When a prepositional phrase begins with one of these prepositions, the
noun must be in the genitive case; that is, the noun is treated the same
as if it were being referred to as the possessor of something. A good
rule of thumb is to remember that the English form of any genitive preposition has
an alternate form ending in "of".
statt (
anstatt) -- instead of
trotz - despite (in spite of)
während - during (at the time of)
innerhalb - inside (of)
außerhalb - outside (of)
oberhalb - above
unterhalb - below, underneath (of)
diesseits - this side of
jenseits - that side of (beyond)
beiderseits - both sides of
um xxxes willen - for
xxx's sake,
for the sake of
When a prepositional phrase begins with one of these propositions, the
noun must be in the accusative case; that is, the noun is treated the same
as if it were the direct object of a sentence.
bis - until
durch - through
für - for
gegen - against (as in
leaning against)
ohne - without
um - around
wider - against (as in
I must speak out against this injustice)
Dative Prepositions
When a prepositional phrase begins with one of these propositions, the
noun must be in the dative case; that is, the noun is treated the same
as if it were the indirect object of a sentence.
aus - out
außer - beside
bei - by
gemäß (gemaess) - according to
mit - with
nach - after
seit - until
von - from
zu - to
Accusative or dative prepositions
When a prepositional phrase begins with one of these prepositions, the
noun might be in the dative case, or it might be in the accusative case...
It all depends on how the phrase is being used.
A good rule of thumb to use is that using such a preposition to imply
motion results in the noun being accusative; implying position
results in the noun being dative.
For example:
He walked into the room ->
Er tritt in das Zimmer
(accusative)
He stood in the room ->
Er stand in dem Zimmer (dative)
an - at, to
auf - on
entlang - along
in - in, into
hinter - behind
neben - next to
ober - over
unter - under
vor - in front of (e.g.
before the group)
zwischen - between