152 vERBs

E_l Avoiding the passive PREPOSITIONS

) Passives are not as common i n German as i n Eng I ish. There are three ma in ways
that German speakers express the same idea.
What is a preposition?
o by using the pronoun man (meaning they or one)with a normal, active verb. Apreposition is a word such as at, for, with, intoorfrom,which is usually
Man hatte es mir schon gesagt. I had already been told. followed by a noun, pronoun o1 in English, a word ending in -ing. prepositions
show how people and things relate to the rest ofthe sentence, for example,
@ trtote that man is not always translated asthE or one.
She's ot home; a tool fucutting grass; it's from David.
Man hatte es schon verkauft. It had alreadv been sold.

o byusing sich lassen plusaverb in the infl nitive Using prepositions

Das lisst sich machen. That can be done. > Prepositions are used in front of nou ns and pronouns (such as me, him, the mon
o by using an active tense where the agent of the action is known. and so on), and show the relationship between the noun or pronoun and the rest
of the sentence. Some prepositions can be used before verb forms ending in -ing
Susi schenkte ihr ein Auto. Susi gave her a car.
in English.
INSTEAD OF I showed my ticket to the inspector.

lhr wurde von Susi ein Auto geschenkt. She was given a car by Susi. Comewith me.
This brush is really good for cleaning shoes.

Key points * For more information on Nouns and Pronouns, see pages t and 69.
y' nepresent tense of the passive is formed by using the present tense D n Engl ish, a preposition does not affect the word or phrase
I it i ntroduces,
of werdenwith the past participle. for example:
y' ln cerman, an indirect olrjectcan NEVER becomethe subjectofa the inspector to the inspector
passive vertr.
me with me
y' youcan often avoid a passive construction lry using the pronoun man
cleaning shoes forcleaning shoes
plus an infinitive oran active tensewhere the agent is
il:[:]"*"" D In Cerman, however, the noun following a preposition must be put into the
accusative, genitive or dative case.

L1_l Prepositions followed by the dative case

) Some of the most common prepositions taking the dative case are:
aus, auBer, bei, gegenliber, mit, nach, seit, von, zu

. aus outof,from
Er trinkt aus der Flasche. He is drinking out of the bottle.

Forfurther explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see pages x-xiv,

Sie kommt aus Essen. She comes from Essen.
r54 Pnepostlorus Pneeosmorus r55

o auBer outof;excePt o seit since; for (of time)

Der Fahrstuhl war auBer Betrieb. The lift was out of order' Seit er krank ist, spielt er nicht He's stopped playing football

Gefahr. mehr FuBball. since he became ill.

Der patient istjetzt auBer The patient is out ofdanger now.
alle auBer mir kamen zu spit. all except me came too late'
@ ruotethatafterseit, meaning for, we use the presenttense in Cerman,
butthe oerfecttense in English.
r bei otthehome/shop/worketcof;near
lch wohne seit zweiJahren in Frankfurtfor
Feiern wir bei uns? Shall we celebrate at our house? l've been living in
Frankfurt. two years.
Bei uns in schottland ist das kein At home in Scotland that isn't
a oroblem. Sie arbeitet seit achtJahren bei She's been workinq for us for
Problem-
She is at the baker's.
uns, eight years.
Sie ist beim Bicker.
Er ist noch beim Friseur. He is still at the hairdresser's. * For more information on Tenses, see plge 94.
Erwohnt immer noch bei seinen He still lives with his Parents.
Eltern.
. von from; about; by (when used in the passivetense)
Von Berlin sind wirweiter nach From Berlinwewentonto
n Note that bei plus the definite article can be shortened to beim.
Krakau gefahren. Krakow
+ For more information on Shortened forms of prepositions, see page $5' lch weiB nichts von ihm.
Sie ist von unseren Argumenten
I know nothing about him.

She was convinced by our

o gegeniiber opposite; towards iiberzeugt worden. ar9umenrs.
He lives opposite us.
Erwohnt uns geqen[iber.
qeqeniiber immer
Sie ist mir She has always been very
+ For more information on the Passive, see page :5o.

sehr freundlich gewesen. friendly towards me.

a Note thatvon can be used as a common alternative to the qenitive case.

ruote tnat when used as a preposition, gegen[iber is placed AFTER a pronou n, Die Mutter von diesen Midchen The mother of these girls is an
[J ist Kiinstlerin. artist.
but can be placed BEFORE oTAFTER a noun.
Sie ist eine Freundin von She is a friend ofAlexander's.
o mit with Alexander.
Er ging mit seinen Freunden He went for a walk with his
spazieren. friends. Q For more informotion on the Genitive cdse, see page n.

o nach after;to . zu to;for

Nach zwei stunden kam erwieder.
Sie ist nach London gereist.
lhrer Sprache nach ist sie
Siiddeutsche.
He returned two hours later' Er ging zum Arzt. He went to the doctor's.
she went to London. Wir sind zum Essen eingeladen. We're invited for d inner.
From thewav she talks lwould
@ ruotethatzu plusthedefinitearticlecan beshortened tozum orzur.
sav she is from southern Germany.

@ ruotethatwhen nach meansoccordingto,asinthe lastexample, itcan be placed Q For more information on Shoftened forms of prepositions, see page $5.
AFTER the noun.

Forfurther explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see Pages x-xiv'

r56 Pnsposrrrous Pneposrrrorus t57

o durch through
Gnmmar Extra! Sie guckte durch das Loch. She looked through the hole.
Some ofthe above prepositions are also used as separable verb prefixes, that is the part at the Durch Zufalltrafen sie sich They met again, by chance.
beginning ofa separable German verb. wieder.
aushalten to endure
lch halte es nicht mehr aus. I can't stand it any longer.
. entlang olong
Die Kinder kommen die StraRe The children are coming along
(emandem) beistehen to stand by (somebody)
entlang. the street.
Er stand seinem Freund bei. He stood by his friend.

qeoen0berstehen to have an attitude towards @ trtote tnat entlang comes AFTER the noun in this meaning.
Er steht ihnen kritisch qegentiber. He has a critical attitude towards them.

jemanden mitnehmen to give somebody a lift

o fiir for;to
lch habe es fiir dich getan. ldid itforyou.
Nimmst du mich bitte mit? Will you give me a lift please?
Das ist flir ihn sehr wichtig. That is very important to him.
nachmachen to copy
Was fiir eins hat er? What kind (ofone) does he have?
Sie macht mir alles nach. she copies everything I do.
Was flir einen Wagen hat sie? What kind ofcardoes she havel
Sqmachen to snut
Was fiir Apfel sind das? What kind of apples are they?
Mach die TUr zu! Shut the door!
gegen against; around
* For more information on separable verbs, see poge rcg.
Stelle es geqen die Wand. Put it against the wall.
Haben Sie etwas oegen Have you got something for
Heuschnupfen? hayfever?
Key points Wir sind oeoen vier angekommen. We arrived at around four otlock.
y' gegeniiber, aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, auBerare the most
common prepositions used with the dative case.
ohne without.

y' Ohne sie gehts nicht. It won't work without her.

tachof tfiem has several d ifferent possi ble mean i n gs, depend i ng on
the contextthey are used in. . um @)round, round obout; at (with time); by (with quantity)
y' aus,nach, mit, bei and zu can also lre used as separable verb prefixes. Der Bahnhofliegt um die Ecke. The station is round the corner.
Es fingt um neun Uhr an. It begins at nine.
Es ist um zehn Euro billiger. It is cheaper by ten euros.
A Prepositions followed bv the accusative case
[J ruote tnat um is used after certain verbs.
> The most common prepositions taking the accusative case are:
Sie baten um ein bisschen mehr They asked for a bit more time.
durch, entlang, fiir, gegen, ohne, um, wider zeit.
Es handelt sich um dein It's a question of your behaviour.

rw Benehmen.

lf you want an easy way to remember wh ich prepositions take the

Q For more information on Verbsfollowed by prepositions, see plge 45
accusative case, Vou could think of the word DOGWUF, which can stand o wider controry to, agoinst
for the prepositions durch ohne gegen wider um fiir.
Das geht mir wider die Natur. That's against my nature.

For further explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see pages x-xiv.

I58 PneposrnoHs Pnrnosrrrorus r59

L The most common prepositions in this category are:

Grammar Extra!
an, auf, hinter, in, neben, uber, unter, vor, zwischen
Some ofthe above prepositions are also used as separable verb prefixes, that is the part at the ,

beginning ofa separable Cerman verb. D You usean:

durchmachen r with the accusative case
Sie hatviel durchgemacht in ihrem Leben. She's been through a lot in her life.
Die Lehrerin schrieb das Wort The teacher wrote the word
entlanogehen an dieTafel. on the board.
Wir gingen die StraBe entlang. We went along the street lch habe einen Brief an meine I wrote a letter to my mother.
um and widerare also used as separable or inseparable verb prefixes (variable verb prefixes), Mutter geschrieben.
depend ing on the verb and mean ing. lch ziehe im Sommer an die In the summer I move to the

ullarmen tnseparable to emllrace Kliste. LUd5L.

Er hat sie umarmt. He gave her a hug. . with the dative case
Umfaf fen separable to fall over Das Wort stand an derTafel. The word was written on the
Sie ist umgefallen. She fell over. blackboard.
widersprechen inseporable to go agai nst Wirtreffen uns am Bahnhof. We're meeting at the station.
Das hat meinen Wiinschen That went against my wishes.
widersprochen. E Note that an plus the defi n ite article can be shortened to am.
(sich)widerspiegeln
Der Baum spiegelt sich im
separoble
Wasserwider.
to reflect
The tree is reflected in the water,
+ For more information on shortened forms of prepositions, see plge $s.

Q For more information on Seporable verbs and lnseparabte verbs, see pages rcg and no .
D You useauf:
. with the accusative case
Stell die Suppe bitte auf llen Tisch. Put the soup on the table please.
Key points Wirfahren morgen aufs Land. We're going to the country
y' durch,entlang,fiir, gegen, ot n", r-,
and widerare the most tomorrow
common prepositions used with the accusative case. Erwarfeinen Blick aufdas Buch. He glanced atthe book.
y' trlost of them have several different possible meanings, depending on
the context they are used in.
[} ruotetnatauf plus the defi nite article can be shortened to aufs.

y' durch,entlang and gegen can also lre used as separable verb prefixes. * For moreinformation on Shortenedformsof prepositions, see page$5.
y' um andwider can also be used as variable verbal prefixes. o with the dative case
Die Suppe steht aufdem Tisch. The soup's on the table.
Aufdem Land ist die Luft besser. The air is better in the countrv.
tr Prepositions followed bythe accusative orthe dative case
D There are a number of prepositions which can be followed bV the accusative or
> You use hinter:
the dative case. You use: o with the accusative case
. the accusative case when there is some movement towards a different place Stell dich hinter deinen Bruder. Stand behind your brother.
o the dative casewhen a location is described ratherthan movement. orwhen . with the dative case
there is movementwithin the same Dlace
Sie saB hinter mir. She was sitting behind me,

Forfurther explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see pages x-xiv.

'r50 Pnepostrtorus Pneposrrrorus t6t

D Youusein: o with the dative case

o Sie lebte dort unter Freunden. She lived there amono friends.
with the accusative case
Sie ging ins Zimmer. she entered the room. ) You usevor:
Er wollte nicht in die Schule gehen. He d idn't want to 90 to school" . with the accusative case
o with the dative case Stell den Stuhl vor das Fenster. Put the chair in front ofthe
Was hast du heute in der Schule What did you do at school window.
gemacht? today? . with the dative case
lm Zimmer warteten viele A lot of people were waiting Auf dem Foto stand sie vor dem In the photo she was standing in
Leute auf ihn. for him in the room. Haus. front ofthe house.
lch war vor ihm da. I was there lrefore h im.
E Note that in plus the deflnite article can be shortened to im or ins'
Vordem Krankenhaus linksabbiegen. Turn leftatthe hospital.
+ For more informotion on Shoftened forms of prepositions, see p09e $5.
You use zwischen:

) You use neben: o with the accusative case

o with the accusative case Er legte es zwischen die beiden He put it between the two plates.
Put your bike next to mine. Teller.
Stell dein Rad neben meines.

o with the dative case o with the dative case

Your bike's next to mine. Das Dorf liegt zwischen den Bergen. The village lies between the
Dein Rad steht neben meinem.
mountains.
D You use iiber:
D Each ofthese prepositions can also be used with verbs and are then called
o with the accusative case prepositional objects.
Zieh den Pullover:0ber deinen Pull the jumper over your head! abhingen von + dative to depend on
KoPf! Das hdngt von dir ab. That depends on you
Sie ging quer 0ber das Feld. She went across the fleld.
schmecken nach+dotive to taste of
Flugzeuge diirfen nicht iiber Planes are not allowed to flY over
dieses Gebiet fliegen. this area.
Der Nachtisch schmeckt nach Zimt. The dessert tastes of cinnamon.

o with the dative case ) When auf or an is used in th is way, the case used depends on the verb - it's much
easier to learn such examples together with the case which follows them.
Die Lampe soll iiber dem Tisch The lamp should hang over the
sich verlassen auf * accusative to depend on
hingen. table.
lch verlasse mich ggfdich. l'm depending on you.
ruote that when iiber me ans about, it is always followed by the accusative case,
[J bestehen auf + dotive to ins ist on
NOT the dative.
Wir bestehen auf sofortiger We insist on immediate payment.
Wir haben viel iiber sie gesprochen. We talked about her a lot. Bezahlung.
D You use unter: glauben an + 4ccusative to believe in
r Sie glaubt an ihre Schwester. She believes in her sister.
with the accusative case
Sie stellte sich unter den Baum. She (came and) stood under leiden an + dotive to sufferfrom
the tree. Er leidet an einer tiidlichen He is suffering from a terminal
Krankheit. illness.

Forfurther explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see pages x-xiv.

r6z Pneposrtorus Pcenosmorus r53

sich freuen auf + occusotive to look forward to auBerhalb outside

lch freue mich auf die l'm looking forward to the Es liegt auBerhalb der stadt. It's outside the town.
Sommerferien. summer holidays.
infolge as o result of
warten auf + accusotive to wait for
Infolge des starken Regens kam As a result ofthe heavy rain,
Er wartetjeden morgen aq1| den Every morning he waits for the es zu Uberschwemmungen. there were floods.
Bus. bus.
o innerhalb within, inside
Q For more information on Verbs with prepositional objects, see poge us lch schaffe das nicht innerhalb I won't manage that within the
dergesetzten Frist. deadline.

Grammar Extra! . statt instead of

Some ofthe above prepositions are also used as separable or inseparable verb prefixes. Statt nach Hause zu gehen, sind Instead of going home, we went
anrechnen separable to charge for wir noch in die Stadt gegangen. into town.
Das wird lhnen spatergngerechnet. You'll be charged forthat later Sie kam statt ihres Bruders. She came instead ofher brother.
4gfsetzen separable to put on o trotz in spite of
Er setzte sich die Miitze auf. He put his cap on.
Trotz ihrer Krankheit ging sie In spite of her illness, she went
iiberqueren inseparable to cross jeden Tag spazieren. for a walk every day.
sie hat die straBe iiberquert. She crossed the street
o um...willen for...sake,becauseof ...
Q For more information on separuble verbs and lnseparable verbs, see pages rc9 and no. lch komme um deinet!4!!en. l'm coming foryour sake.
Tun Sie das bitte um meiner Please do it, for my mother's sake.
Mutter willen.
o wihrend during
( Was hast du wlhrend der Ferien What did you do during the
gemacht? holidays?
. wegen because of, on account of
Weqen des schlechten Wetters The event was cancelled lrecause
"
,:i wurde die Veranstaltung abgesagt. of bad weather.

,r' E Note that statt, trotz, wehrend and wegen can also be followed by the dative
ca5e.
Statt dem Abendessen musste lnstead ofhaving dinnel I had
ich arbeiten. to work.
bj Prepositions followed bv the genitive case Trotz allem will ich weiterstudieren. ln spite of everyth ing, I want to
) The following are some of the more common prepositions which take the continue studying.
genitive case: WHhrend dem Vortrag schlief er ein. He fell asleep during the lecture.
auBerhalb, infolge, innerhalb, statt, trotz, um... willen, wAhrend, wegen Wegen mir musste sie friih nach She had to go home early because
Hause, of me.

Forfurther explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see pages x-xiv,

154 Pnrpostrtorus Pnreosmorus 165

Orammar Ertra!
There are some other prepositions which take the genitive case:
o beiderseits on both sides of
Beiderseits des Flusses gibt es ein Ufer' On both sides ofthe river there is a
river bank.
o diesseits onthissideof
Diesseits der Grenze spricht man On this side ofthe border Polish and
Polnisch und Deutsch. GermanarespoKen.
o ... halber
Vorsichtshalber nehme ich heute To be on the safe side l'm taki ng an
meinen Regenschirm mit. umbrella today. tr Shortened forms of prepositions
Sicherheitshalberverschliefit er dieT[ir' For safety's sake he locks the door. > After many cerman prepositions, a shortened or contracted form of the defin ite
o hinsichtlich with regard to article can be merged with the preposition to make one word.
habe
Hinsichtlich lhrer Beschwetde With reqards to your complaint, I have
auf+das
zustindigen
ich lhren Briefan die passed on your letterto the relevant - aufs
geschickt.
Beh6rden authorities. bei+dem- beim
r jenseits on the other side of zu+der + zul
Das Dorf liegt 2 km ienseits der Grenze' The village is 2km on the other side
ofthe border. * For more information on the Dqinite ofticte, see poge 25.

@
D This can be done with all of the following prepositions:

Preposition + das + den + dem + der

Grammar Extra! an ans am
Special forms ofthe possessive and relative pronouns are used with wegen:
auf aufs
r meinetwegen
aufgeregt? Did he get so upset on my account? bei beim
Hat er sich meinetweoen so
o durch durchs
deinetwegen
lch ging nicht deinetweoen nach Hause' I didn't go home because ofyou fiir fi.i rs
o seinetwegen hinter hinters hintern hinterm
lhr mUsst seinetwegen nicht auf You don't have to do without You r
tn Ins tm
euren Urlaub verzichten. holidayfor his sake.
iiber iibers [ibern iiberm
. ihretwegen
Wirsind ihretweoenfruhergegangen. Wewentearlierbecauseofthem. um ums
. unsertwegen unter unters untern unterm
sie musste unsertweoen Strafe zahlen. she had to paya fine because ofus. vor vors vorm
. euretwegen von vom
Euretweqen durfte er nicht mitspielen. Because of you he wasn't allowed to
2U
ptav. zum zuf
. lhretwegen
sollte es lhretweqen Probleme geben, Should you cause any problems, then
dann gehen wir alle nach Hause. we'll allgo home.

4 For more information on Possssive pronouns and Relotive pronouns, see pages 80 and 86.

Forfurther explanation of grammatical terms, please see pages x'xiv.

r66 Pnepostrtorus Pnenosrnorus r67

Erging ans Fenster. He went to the window. o vors,vorm

Wir waren gestern am Meer. We were at the seaside YesterclaY. Stell den Stuhl vors Fenster. Putthe chair in front ofthe
Er ist beim Friseur. He's at the hairdresser's. window
We're going to the cinema tonight Er stand vorm Spiegel. He stood in front of the m irror
Wir gehen heute Abend ins Kino.
lm Sommer lese ich gern im In the summer I like reading in
[| ruote that if you want to stress the article in a sentence, shortened forms are
Carten. the garden. NOT used.
Es ging immer umsThema Geld. Itwas always about the subject ln dem Anzug kann ich mich I can't go out in that suitl
of money. nicht sehen lassen!
Der Hund lief unters Auto. The dog ran under the car.
Shortened forms of prepositions can also be used:
Der Ball rollte untern Tisch. The ball rolled underthetable.
Die Katze lag unterm Schreibtisch' The cat lav under the desk. o with personal pronouns representing inanimate objects, that is olrjects
talked about his holidaY. which are not living things
Ererzihltevom Urlaub. He
She d rives to the stati on. Sie war damit zufrieden. She was satisfied with that.
Siefihrtzum Bahnhof.
He goes to school. Er hat es daraufangelegt, dass He was determ ined to get the
Er geht zur Schule.
er die beste Note kriegen wilrde. best orade.
>> The following shortened forms are normally only used in informal, spoken
Cerman:
4 For more information on Permnal pronouns, see pageTo

o aufs
Wirfahren morgen aufs Land. We're going to the country
tomorrow n:
o durchs
5ie flog durchs Abitur' Shefailed herA Levels. i
o flirs
Das ist fiirs neue Haus. That's for the new house.

hinters, hintern, hinterm

Er lief hinters Auto. He ran behind the car.
Stell es hintern Tisch' Put it behi nd the table.
Es liegt hinterm Sofa. It's behind the couch.

iibers, Ubern, iiberm

Sie legten ein Brett 0bers Loch. They put a board over the hole'
Man muss das 0bern KoPf ziehen. You have to pull it overYour head.

Uberm Tisch hingt eine LamPe. There's a lamp hanging overthe

table.
unters, untern, unterm
Die Katze ging unters Bett' The cat went u nder the bed.
Der Ball rollte untern Tisch' The ball rolled underthe table.
Der Hund tiegt unterm Tisch. The dog is lying under the table.

Forfurther explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see Pages x-xiv'