LESSON 37

PREPOSITIONS / PRÄPOSITIONEN

Accusative / Akkusativ – II

OBJECTIVE

 Introduction to prepositions ‘gegen’ and ‘entlang’ in Accusative case

 Introduction to features and use of ‘gegen’ and ‘entlang’
 Introduction to prepositions in dative case
 Introduction to the dative preposition ‘aus’, its features and use

SUMMARY

In this lesson we are going to continue our discussion on prepositions. In the first segment we would
focus on two accusative prepositions ‘gegen’ and ‘entlang’. In the second segment, we would
discuss the prepositions in dative case and focus on the preposition ‘aus’. Examples and exercises
would be discussed in this lesson to explain the concepts in a detailed manner.

TEXT

In the previous lesson we discussed the features of prepositions and discussed four prepositions in
accusative case. In this lesson, we would first discuss the remaining two accusative prepositions
‘gegen’ and ‘entlang’.

GEGEN

The preposition ‘gegen’ has got broadly two meanings:

 Direction – in this context ‘gegen’ is used to show direction against which something or
somebody is moving, which may result in collision.

Das Auto (N) fährt gegen das Gebäude (A)

In the above sentence the preposition ‘gegen’ is used with the noun ‘das Gebäude’. Here the
nominative noun ‘das Auto’ and the accusative noun ‘das Gebäude’ are connected to each other
with the preposition ‘gegen’ which shows an inverse relationship. The neutral definite article ‘das’
remains same in accusative.
 Against – In this context ‘gegen’ is used to show that something or somebody is against or
opposed to something or somebody. This meaning of ‘gegen’ is used in a more abstract,
subjective context.

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Er (N) ist gegen unseren Plan(A).

In the above sentence the 3rd person pronoun is connected to the accusative noun with ‘gegen’ and
shows the inverse relationship between the pronoun and the noun in accusative case. The
accusative possessive article ‘unseren Plan’ is derived from the nominative possessive article ‘unser
Plan’. This noun carries the article ‘der’ and in accusative ‘der’ converts to ‘den’. The corresponding
possessive determiner also changes from ‘unser’ to ‘unseren’ for masculine possessive article which
is shown here as ‘unseren Plan’.

ENTLANG

The preposition ‘entlang’ is also used to show ‘direction’ in which something or somebody is moving.
It roughly means ‘along’ something like a river, street etc. It is one of the few prepositions which can
change its position. ‘Entlang’ can be also used as a postposition, i.e. the preposition can follow the
noun. The other prepositions always precede the nouns.
a) Die Kinder (N) laufen den Fluss entlang (A).
b) Die Kinder (N) laufen entlang den Fluss (A).
In the sentences above the preposition ‘entlang’ is used as a preposition (a) and postposition (b). In
both the cases the article changes from ‘der’ to ‘den’ when the masculine noun is attached to the
preposition or postposition ‘entlang’.

In the next segment we would focus on the prepositions which take the dative case. Like the
accusative prepositions, dative prepositions too change the case of the article or pronoun when they
are placed with them. Broadly, the following dative prepositions exist in German language.

1. aus
2. bei
3. mit
4. nach
5. seit
6. von
7. zu
8. ab
9. gegenüber

Like prepositions in accusative case, each dative preposition is also contextual in nature. Each
preposition is used to convey a different meaning. From the list of dative prepositions we would
focus on the preposition ‘aus’.

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AUS

The preposition ‘aus’ roughly means ‘out of’ or ‘from’ or ‘origin’ from a source. However, this
meaning can change depending on the following contexts.

 Place / Area–In this context ‘aus’ is used to indicate the origin of a noun from a certain place,
like country, city etc.

 Mein Lehrer (N) kommt aus Deutschland (D).

In the above given sentence, ‘aus’ is used to show the origin of the nominative ‘der Lehrer’.

 Enclosed Place / Area – Here ‘aus’ shows also the origin, however from a closed area. Compared
to the previous meaning which has got more geographical context, this meaning is limited to
closed spaces like room, hall etc.

 Das Mädchen(N) kommt aus dem Zimmer (D).

In the above sentence the dative element is the noun ‘dem Zimmer’. This is derived from the neutral
definite article ‘das’ which is converted to ‘dem’ in dative case.

 Material – the preposition ‘aus’ is used here to show the origin of a substance from another
substance.

 Die Flasche (N) ist aus Plastik (D).

In this sentence the preposition ‘aus’ is used to designate the origin of the nominative noun.

Origin (time) – In this context the use of ‘aus’ focuses on the origin of a substance from a given
period of time, in terms of years, days etc.

 Das Buch (N) istausdemJahr 2015 (D).

In the above sentence due to the presence of the preposition ‘aus’ the neutral article ‘das’ changes
to ‘dem’ for the noun ‘Jahr’.
CASE STUDY – This lesson does not require any case study.

FAQs

Q: Do accusative and dative prepositions overlap in their meanings?

A: Yes. Certain accusative and dative prepositions may overlap in their meanings depending on the
sentence structure and meaning

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ASSIGNMENT

1. Please watch the video and revise the various features of prepositions gegen, entlang & aus.
2. Please list all the features of the above mentioned prepositions and based on the examples and
exercises in this lesson build as many new sentences (atleast 10-15)

QUIZ - Choose the correct response from the given options.

1. Wann kommt die Lehrerin? _____ 10 Uhr.

a) Gegen
b) Entlang
c) Aus
d) Für

2. _______ _____ Strand sind viele Bäume.

a) Entlang…den
b) Entlang…der
c) Entlang…die
d) Entlang…das

3. Kann ich dieses Medikament _______ Erkältung nehmen?

a) entlang
b) für
c) gegen
d) aus

4. Der Mann fährt das Auto_____ _____ Baum.

a) gegen…das
b) gegen…die
c) gegen…der
d) gegen…den

5. Das Mädchen nimmt die Flasche _____ _____ Tasche.

a) aus…das
b) aus…dem
c) aus…der
d) aus…den

6. Das Bild ist _______ _____ Jahr 2000.

a) aus…dem
b) aus..der
c) aus…den
d) aus..das

7. Die Schüler kommen ______ ________ Raum.

a) aus…den
b) aus…das
c) aus…der
d) aus…dem

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8. ______ ______ Straβen stehen viele Autos.
a) Entlang…die
b) Entlang…der
c) Entlang…das
d) Entlang…dem

9. MeineFamilie ist _____ ______Plan.

a) gegen…meine
b) gegen…mein
c) gegen…meinen
d) gegen…mein

10. ________ _____ spielt unser Team?

a) Gegen…wem
b) Gegen…wen
c) Gegen…wer
d) Gegen…wann

TUTORIALS
https://german.tolearnfree.com/free-german-lessons/free-german-exercise-68426.php
http://www.jabbalab.com/blog/15792/german-dative-prepositions

LINKS
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/preposition-dative/gr-38268686
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/stating-locations-cities-countries/gr-38313056

REFERENCES
Funk, H. Studio d. A1, A2 Cornelsen, Berlin / Goyal Saab, Delhi

GLOSSARY

der Fluss – river

der Baum – tree / Der Strand – beach
der Gast – guest / Die Gäste (Plural) – guests
der Ring – ring
der Raum – room
der Plan – plan

die Korruption – corruption

die Erkältung – common cold
die Meinung – opinion, view point
die Kopfschmerzen – headache
die Flasche – bottle
die Schule – school
die Milch – milk
die Dose - can for soft drinks.
die Universität – university
die Schweiz – Switzerland
die Plastik – plastic

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die Familie – family

das Medikament – medicine

das Fieber – fever
das Gebäude – building
das Team – team
das Zimmer – room
das Bild – picture
das Jahr – year
das Büro – office, workplace
das Regal – cupboard

jung – young
einander – each other
gerade – right now
trinken – to drink