I. Theory
As in English, prepositions are words that typically precede nouns and pronouns to show their role in the sentence or clause. Prepositions often show motion or direction: “to”, through”, “across”, “on”, “off”, “towards”, etc. while others show cause or how something is being done: “by”, “despite”, “instead of”, “without”.In German, prepositions trigger cases to show two things: 1) which part of the sentence is being affected and 2) how they are affected - as some prepositions have more than one meaning. This lesson will focus on prepositions that always take the accusative case.
Examples of accusative prepositions:
| Ich bin ohne meinen Mantel zur Arbeit gegangen. I went to work without my coat. Gegen wen spielst du? Whom are you playing against? Das Geschenk ist für meinen Vater. The gift is for my father. |