Wechselpräpositionen: German Two-Way Prepositions Chart and Rules

Wo or wohin: the rule

One question decides the case after a two-way preposition. If someone or something goes to a new place, the sentence answers wohin? (where to?) and takes the accusative. If it says where something is, and nothing goes to a new place, it answers wo? (where?) and takes the dative.

The verb usually shows which. Legen puts the newspaper somewhere, so it's auf den Tisch, and liegen says where it is, so it's auf dem Tisch. Moving isn't enough to make it wohin. Die Kinder laufen hinaus in den Garten means the children run out into the yard, while Die Kinder laufen im Garten herum means they run around inside it.

The nine two-way prepositions with examples

All nine follow the same rule. The table gives one example pair for each, a wohin sentence with the accusative and a wo sentence with the dative.

Learn the nine as a list, and the question does the rest. A sentence with any of them comes down to wo or wohin, unless it's a time expression or a fixed pair, which come further down.

Placement verbs: stellen or stehen, legen or liegen

Five pairs of verbs build the rule into the verb itself. The first verb of each pair puts something somewhere, so it's wohin and the accusative: Sie stellt die Vase auf das Regal. The second says where it is, so it's wo and the dative: Die Vase steht auf dem Regal. Which pair you need depends on how the thing ends up: standing (stellen, stehen), lying (legen, liegen) or sitting (setzen, sitzen).

Hängen and stecken are the same verb both ways, so the rest of the sentence has to show the difference. Ich hänge das Bild an die Wand puts the picture there, and Das Bild hängt an der Wand says where it is.

Contractions: am, im, ans, ins and the rest

A preposition and its article often merge into one word, and the chart lists eight of them: am, im, vom, zum, beim, zur, ans and ins. Six hide a dative article, dem or der. The other two, ans and ins, hide an accusative das. That's why im Wasser answers wo and ins Wasser answers wohin.

Vom, zum, beim and zur come from von, zu and bei, which always take the dative. German usually uses the short form, and the German prepositions quiz accepts both: im and in dem count the same.

Time expressions take the dative

The wo or wohin question doesn't apply to time. When an, in, vor or zwischen says when something happens, it takes the dative: am Montag, im Sommer, vor einer Woche (a week ago) and in einer Stunde (in an hour). In einer Stunde points forward in time, and it's still the dative. The quiz has 13 of them:

• Am Wochenende besuchen wir meine Eltern.
• Im Sommer fahren wir nach Italien.
• Ich habe am Montag einen Termin.
• Im Winter ist es hier sehr kalt.
• Am Abend lese ich gern.
• Vor dem Essen wasche ich mir die Hände.
• Wir haben uns vor einem Jahr kennengelernt.
• Der Zug fährt in einer Stunde ab.
• Vor einer Prüfung schlafe ich immer schlecht.
• In den Ferien gehen wir oft schwimmen.
• In der Nacht hat es geschneit.
• In der Woche habe ich wenig Zeit.
• Zwischen den Kursen trinken wir einen Kaffee.

The contraction hides the case here too. Am Wochenende is short for an dem Wochenende.

Fixed verb and preposition pairs

Some verbs come with their own preposition, and the pair has a fixed case whatever the meaning. Ich warte auf den Bus takes the accusative, though nothing moves. Angst haben vor and teilnehmen an take the dative: Hast du Angst vor dem Hund? The table lists the 18 pairs that our quiz and worksheets use, each with its case and an example.

In these 18, auf and über always take the accusative, and vor and unter take the dative. Only an goes both ways: denken an and sich erinnern an take the accusative, while teilnehmen an and arbeiten an take the dative. Learn each pair with its case, the way you'd learn a noun with der, die or das.

Prepositions that take one case only

The other prepositions on the chart take one case, whatever the sentence means. Mit always takes the dative and für always the accusative. The chart lists seven accusative prepositions, nine dative ones and four that take the genitive.

Two of them need a note. Entlang comes after its noun and takes the accusative there: den Fluss entlang. Bis often goes without an article, as in bis nächste Woche.

How to practice the two-way prepositions

Learn the rule on the nine, then add the phrases that don't follow it.

1. Start with the placement verbs. Legen and liegen, or stellen and stehen, make the difference between wohin and wo easy to see.
2. Practice each preposition in both cases. The quiz asks every two-way preposition as wohin and as wo, so the nine take 18 turns.
3. Add time expressions and fixed pairs. They're the sentences where wo or wohin doesn't decide the case.
4. Mix in the one-case prepositions. Mit, für and wegen never change their case, so add them once the two-way ones are steady.

The German prepositions quiz lets you take those steps one group at a time, with the reason after every answer. In its Which case? mode (in ___ Park: accusative or dative?), you decide wo or wohin without typing anything. For a class, the German prepositions worksheets print Wo or wohin? pairs and Placement verbs sheets with an answer key. To keep the chart beside you, the Print this chart button puts it on one page.

Frequently asked questions

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.