German Prepositions Songs
If you really want to master the German case system, you need Herr Antrim's book "Mastering the German Case System". It is available here as an ebook or on Amazon as a paperback book. You can also get his workbook as a paperback book on Amazon and practice what you learn in the main book.
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Accusative Prepositions
The following prepositions always use the accusative case:
für - for
um - around, at (time)
durch - through
ohne - without
gegen - against, around (time)
bis - until
entlang - along
You can learn all about the accusative prepositions in this lesson.
Sing these prepositions to the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down" in this order.
durch, für, gegen
ohne, um x 3
durch, für, gegen
ohne, um x 3
bis und entlang
Dative Prepositions
The following prepositions always use the dative case in German:
ab - starting at, from
aus - out of, from
außer - besides, except
bei - at, near, with
mit - with
nach - after, to
seit - since, for (period of time)
von - from
zu - to, at (home)
Learn all about the dative prepositions here.
You can sing all of these prepositions in the order listed below to the tune of "Ode an die Freude".
ab, aus, außer,
gegenüber,
von, seit, bei, mit
nach und zu
If you prefer to sing them to "Frére Jacques" (German: Bruder Jakob, English: Are you sleeping, Brother John), use this order. This version, however, does not include "ab".
aus, bei, mit, nach
aus, bei, mit, nach
seit, von, zu
seit, von, zu
außer, gegenüber
außer, gegenüber
mit dem Dativ
mit dem Dativ
You can also sing them these in alphabetical order to the tune of “An der schönen blauen Donau” (On the Beautiful Blue Danube). This removes "ab" and "gegenüber", however.
Two-Way Prepositions
The following prepositions all use the accusative case when showing a change in location and the dative case when expressing a static location:
an - on (vertical)
auf - on (horizontal)
hinter - behind
in - in
neben - next to, beside
über - over
unter - under
vor - in front of
zwischen - behind
Learn all about the two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen) here.
If you sing them in alphabetical order, use the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”.
an, auf, hinter, in und neben
über, unter, vor und zwischen
"Wo" ist das Fragewort mit Dative.
"Wohin" ist Akkusativ.
To sing them to the tune of “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain” use this order
vor und hinter, über, unter, neben, an 2x
zwischen, zwischen, auf und in 2x
“Wo” ist Dativ. “Wohin” ist Akkusativ.
Genitive Prepositions
The following prepositions use the genitive case:
anstatt - instead of
trotz - despite
während - during
wegen - because of
innerhalb - inside of
außerhalb - outside of
oberhalb - above
unterhalb - under
seitens - on the side of
diesseits - this side of
jenseits - on the other side of
anlässlich - on the occasion of
kraft - by power of
laut - according to
aufgrund - by reason of
bezüglich - with regard to
Click here to learn all about the genitive case prepositions in German.
Unfortunately I don't have a song for these prepositions. If you know a song you can use for the genitive case, send me an email at [email protected].
Master the German Prepositions with These Lessons
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