Free German Prepositions Quiz
This German prepositions quiz gives you one short sentence at a time, with a gap where the article or the preposition goes: Ich lege die Zeitung auf ___ Tisch. Depending on the mode, you choose the case, type the article or pick the preposition, and the quiz shows the right phrase and the reason for it. For the two-way prepositions the reason is wo or wohin, so you see why it's auf den Tisch when the newspaper goes there and auf dem Tisch when it's lying there. When you stop, you see your score and can practice only the sentences you missed. It's free and needs no signup.
How the German prepositions quiz works
You make two choices before you start. The first is which prepositions to practice, and you can pick one group or several:
- Accusative only: für dich, durch den Park, ohne mich
- Dative only: mit dem Bus, bei mir, zur Schule
- Two-way (Wechselpräpositionen): in den Park (wohin?), im Park (wo?)
- Genitive: wegen des Regens, trotz der Kälte
The second is what you practice, and you pick one: Which case? (in ___ Park: accusative or dative?), Fill in the article (in ___ (der) Park → den or dem) or Pick the preposition (___ dem Bus: mit, für or ohne?).
A checkbox, Show the English under each sentence, is on by default. Turn it off when you want to read the German alone. The score stays on screen while you work, and Enter moves to the next sentence.
Three ways to practice German prepositions
Which case? gives you a button for each case: Accusative (den, einen, mich) and Dative (dem, einem, mir), plus Genitive (des, eines) when you've picked the genitive group. In this mode and in Pick the preposition, keys 1 to 3 press the buttons.
Fill in the article asks you to type the article. The nominative is shown in brackets after the gap, so the gender is never the question, only the case: in ___ (der) Park. The short forms count (im for in dem, zum for zu dem), and so does typing the preposition again with the article: in dem. A pronoun can be the gap too: hinter ___ (ich) → mich.
Pick the preposition offers three buttons. The two wrong choices are wrong by grammar, never by taste, because neither could take the phrase as printed in any case it allows. A second line says why, for example: “für and ohne always take the accusative, and this phrase is in the dative.” Contracted phrases such as im Park don't come up this way, and neither does entlang. Bis comes up only this way, because it takes no article in these sentences: bis nächste Woche.
The reason after every answer
After every answer, the quiz shows the full phrase, such as im Park, and a line with the reason for it. For the two-way prepositions, the reason is wo or wohin:
- “Wohin? Someone or something goes to a new place, so in takes the accusative: in den Park.”
- “Wo? liegen says where someone or something is, so auf takes the dative: auf dem Tisch.”
Time expressions, fixed pairs and the one-case prepositions get reasons of their own:
- “In a time expression, an takes the dative: am Wochenende, short for an dem Wochenende.”
- “warten auf is a fixed pair: auf takes the accusative here, whether anything moves or not: auf den Bus.”
- “mit always takes the dative: mit dem Bus.”
- “entlang after its noun takes the accusative: den Fluss entlang.”
- “statt takes the genitive: statt des Busses.”
The two-way questions come only from the 139 sentences written for this quiz. Each one is tagged wohin, wo, time or fixed pair, so the reason shown always fits the sentence.
Every preposition in turn
Each preposition you picked comes up in turn before any comes up again. The two-way prepositions come up in both their cases, so the nine of them take 18 turns: in den Park and im Park count as two. The same sentence won't come back within a few questions.
There are 575 different sentences in all. Of these, 139 were written for this quiz: 48 wohin and 49 wo sentences, 13 with a time expression, 18 with a fixed pair and 11 more for entlang, außer, gegenüber and statt. They run from A1 to B1, each one has its English translation, and all of them were reviewed for natural German. The other sentences, for the prepositions that take one case only, come from the bank behind our German case worksheets.
Practice the sentences you missed
Stop and see my score works at any point. It shows your score and the sentences you missed, each with the right phrase and what you picked or wrote. Practice my mistakes then runs only those sentences again, and New quiz, same choices starts over with the same groups and mode. The quiz is free, with no signup and no account.
A quiz on screen, worksheets on paper
The quiz is for practice on screen, one sentence at a time. For a class, the German prepositions worksheets print sentences from the same bank with an answer key: the article after each preposition, wo or wohin pairs and placement verbs such as stellen and stehen. The German two-way prepositions guide sets out the rules in one place, with a chart to print. And since the article also depends on the noun's gender, start with the der die das quiz if der, die or das is still a guess.
Frequently asked questions
Is this German prepositions quiz free?
Yes. There's no signup and no account.
Which prepositions does the quiz cover?
All four groups. Seven take only the accusative (durch, für, gegen, ohne, um, bis and entlang), nine take only the dative (aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu and gegenüber) and four take the genitive (wegen, trotz, während and statt). The other nine are the two-way prepositions. Pick one group or several.
What are two-way prepositions?
They're the nine prepositions that can take either case: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen. They take the accusative when someone or something goes to a new place (wohin?) and the dative when the sentence says where it is (wo?): in den Park, im Park. The quiz asks each one in both cases.
Do I have to write im, or does in dem count?
Both count. In Fill in the article, the short forms are accepted (im for in dem, zum for zu dem), and so is the preposition typed again with the article. The quiz teaches and accepts eight short forms: am, im, vom, zum, beim, zur, ans and ins.
Why does warten auf take the accusative when nothing moves?
Warten auf is a fixed pair. Some verbs come with their own preposition and case, and the case stays the same whatever the meaning: Ich warte auf den Bus. Angst haben vor always takes the dative. The quiz uses 18 of these pairs, and the reason line says when a sentence has one.
Can I answer with the keyboard?
Yes. In Which case? and Pick the preposition, keys 1 to 3 press the buttons. In Fill in the article, type the article and press Enter. Enter also moves to the next sentence.
How many sentences are there?
There are 575. Of these, 139 were written for this quiz, from A1 to B1, each with its English translation, and they were reviewed for natural German. The rest, for the one-case prepositions, come from the bank behind our German case worksheets. The same sentence won't come back within a few questions.
Can I practice only the sentences I got wrong?
Yes. Press Stop and see my score, then Practice my mistakes runs only the sentences you missed.
Licenses and credits
Noun genders and endings come from English Wiktionary through kaikki.org (CC BY-SA 4.0). The sentences are written for NexaProva.