Prepositions

Accusative prepositions
Accusative prepositions always trigger the accusative case.

Here are the most common ones: durch, für, gegen, ohne, um

Dative prepositions
Dative prepositions always trigger the dative case.

Here are the most common ones: aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, zu

Two-way prepositions
Two-way prepositions take the dative case or the accusative case, depending on the
context.

This is an unusual, but central part of German grammar.

If there's movement from one place to another, use the accusative case.

 Die Katze geht in die Küche. (The cat walks into the kitchen.)
If there's no movement, or if there's movement within a certain place, use
the dative case.

 Die Katze schläft in der Küche. (The cat sleeps in the kitchen.)

 Die Katze geht in der Küche. (The cat walks within the kitchen.)
These prepositions can switch case: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor,
zwischen

When not to think about location change

Two-way prepositions are very common in everyday speech, so it's a good idea to practice
them to fluency.

However, don't forget that for some prepositions, you don't have to decide:

Durch and um will always be accusative, although they might signify an activity without
location change:

 Das Kind rennt durch den Wald. (The child is running through the forest.)

 Die Stühle stehen um den Tisch. (The chairs are standing around the table.)
Aus, von, zu will always be dative, although they might signify a location change.

 Er kommt aus der Küche (He comes out of the kitchen.)

  Ich fahre zur Arbeit. (I go to work.)

 Ich komme von der Arbeit. (I come from work.)

Other uses for two-way prepositions

Some verbs use one of these prepositions in a way that is not about location. This is part
of language change, where things get repurposed all the time.

Über will always trigger the accusative case:

 Sie diskutieren über den Krieg. (They discuss the war.)

When used with these verbs, vor will always trigger the Dative:

 Er warnt vor dem Hund. (He warns about the dog.)

An, in and auf are more complicated: in some verbs, they trigger the accusative, in others
the dative. You'll just have to memorize these.

 Er denkt an seinen Bruder. (He thinks of his brother.)

 Er arbeitet an einem Film (He's working on a film.)

 Ich warte auf den Bus. (I'm waiting for the bus.)

 Der Film basiert auf meinem Leben. (The film is based on my life.)

Contractions
Some prepositions and articles can be contracted.

an + das ans

an + dem am

auf + das aufs

bei + dem beim

in + das ins

in + dem im

hinter + das hinters

über + das übers

 an + das ans

um + das ums

unter + das unters

von + dem vom

vor + das vors

zu + dem zum

zu + der zur

 Wir gehen ins Kino (We go to the cinema.)

If you would use "that" in English, you would not use a contraction:

 In das Kino gehe ich nicht! (I won't go into that cinema!)

Preposition at the end of a sentence??

An important part of German grammar is that some verbs can split off their prefix. This
often ends up at the end of a sentence. Some of these prefixes look exactly like a
preposition.

So when you see a "preposition" at the end of a sentence, try to combine it with the verb.
You might just have learned a new word :)

 Sie macht die Lampe an. (anmachen means "turn on" here)

 Ich denke nach. (nachdenken means "to think")

 Pass auf dich auf! (aufpassen means "to take care")

 Wann fährt der Zug ab? (abfahren means "to depart")

 Nimm deinen Hut ab! (abnehmen means "to take off" in this context)

Unfortunately, the way Duolingo is built does not allow to selectively teach German
sentence structure. We hope this will change soon :)
Zu Hause vs. nach Hause
Zu Hause means at home, and nach Hause means home (homewards, not at home).
The -e at the end of zu Hause and nach Hause is an archaic dative ending, which is no
longer used in modern German, but survives in certain fixed expressions.

 Ich bin zu Hause. (I am at home.)

 Ich gehe nach Hause. (I am walking home.)