All About German Prepositions of Time, Place and Manner / Temporale-, Lokale- und Modale Präpositionen

In this lesson, you will learn all about the German prepositions of time, place and manner, what these prepositions are, what they mean, and when and how they are used.

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CONTENTS

Prepositions and cases
Prepositions of time / Temporale Präpositionen
Prepositions of place/ Lokale Präpositionen
Prepositions of manner / Modale Präpositionen

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Grammar Contents

Prepositions and Cases

German Prepositions require a specific case, so we have prepositions with the:

accusative
dative
genitive
dative and accusative

As you know, we express case in German through the article: der, dem, den.

Der, dem, den is the definite article. It can be replaced by an indefinite article, a possessive pronoun, ….

Some prepositions merge with the article

an + dem = am
in + dem = im

Prepositions of time / Temporale Präpositionen

am 3. Oktober 2019
am Sonntag
(am + day / date)

am Morgen
am Vormittag
am + parts of the day
BUT: in der Nacht

am Wochenende (2 Tage)
an Weihnachten (2 Tage)
(an+ public holidays)

im Mai – (in may)
im Sommer (in summer)
(in + months / seasons)

im Jahr 2002 flog ich nach Bali.
2002 flog ich nach Bali.
(I flew to Bali in 2002.)

im 15. Jahrhundert
in der Renaissance
(in + era)

im Urlaub sein

in 5 Minuten / Stunden – (in 5 minutes/hours)
in einem Jahr / Monat – (in a year/month)
(in + future)
but it is said: morgen (tomorrow) and not: in einem Tag

um 15 Uhr
(um + hours)

seit 10 Jahren
(the time span from a moment in the past to the present)
von nächstem Montag – (from next Monday)
ab nächster Woche – (from next week)

bis nächsten Dienstag – (till next Tuesday)

gegen 17 Uhr/Mittag – (around 5 pm/ around noon)

während des Unterrichts- (during lessons)

Everything colored in
blue is in DATIVE
pink is in ACCUSATIVE
green is in the GENITIVE

Prepositions of place/ Temporale Präpositionen

durch den Tunnel (through the tunnel)

gegen die Mauer (against the wall)

den Rhein entlang (along the Rhine)
den Berg hinauf (up the hill)
die Treppe hinunter (down the stairs)
(Direction information)

auf dem Foto (in the picture)
im Hintergrund (in the background)

Ich fahre/ gehe(I travel / I go)
nach Köln (to Cologne)
in die Türkei (in Turkey)
zu meiner Tante (to my aunt)

  • (nach + cities and countries of the neuter gender, in + countries of the masculine and feminine gender and plural, zu + persons)
  • As you can see, these prepositions are used with verbs of motion (fahren, gehen, etc.).
  • The preposition “in” can also be used with verbs of rest.
  • After the preposition “nach,” there can be names of places (nach Wien, nach Belgrad, nach Zadar), and names of countries of neuter gender.
  • The majority of countries are of neuter gender. For countries of masculine and feminine gender (der Irak/Iran/Sudan – die Schweiz/Türkei), and some in the plural (USA), the preposition “in” is used i.e. (in den Irak/Iran/Sudan, in die Schweiz/Türkei).
  • The preposition “zu” is used when we go to someone’s house: zu Oliver, zu meiner Tante, zum Arzt, …

am Tisch sitzen
im Büro arbeiten
ali: bei Schmitt & Co.arbeiten
bei + company names

auf einer Party sein

auf der Bank sitzen (to sit on the bench)
auf der Post sein- (to be in the post office)
(auf + institutions, when something has to be done there)

im Bahnhof/ in der Bank
(in+ institutions if you only describe the location)

am Bahnhof/ an der Bank
 treffen wir uns … = (meet next to the railway station/ bank ….)

auf der Straße – (on the street)
in der Ecke (in the corner)
an der Ecke – (on the corner)

meinem Haus gegenüber – (opposite my house)

unter Menschen sein – (to be with many people, eg at a party)

Prepositions of manner / Modale Präpositionen

wegen der Bauarbeiten (because of the construction work)

aufgrund Ihres Schreibens** (because of your writing)

infolge des Wetters**  (due to the weather)

angesichts der Warteschlange**( considering the order)
(The reason is visible)

anlässlich des 10-jährigen Jubiläums** (on the occasion of the 10th anniversary)
(reason is a special event)

** very formal language

pink = accusative,
blue = dative,
green = genitive

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Bis zum nächsten Mal!