The
following table has some useful prepositions:
German
|
Pronunciation
|
English
|
auf
|
ouf
|
On
|
bei
|
bay
|
At
|
fern
|
feRn
|
Far
|
gegen
|
gey-guhn
|
Against
|
hinter
|
hin-tuhR
|
Behind
|
In
|
in
|
In
|
nach
|
naCH
|
After
|
nah
|
nah
|
Near
|
neben
|
ney-buhn
|
Next to
|
ohne
|
oh-nuh
|
Without
|
um.zu
|
oom.tsew
|
In order to
|
unter
|
oon-tuhR
|
Under
|
von
|
fon
|
From
|
vor
|
foR
|
In front of
|
zu, nach
|
tsew, naCH
|
To, At
|
zwischen
|
tsvi-shuhn
|
Between
|
In English we can simply place any preposition in front of any noun or in front of the pronouns 'me, us, you, him, her, it' and 'them' without complication. In German, each preposition requires the noun or pronoun following to be a particular case, generally DO (direct object) or IO (indirect object).
Some
prepositions require DO exclusively, some IO exclusively, and some
require either DO or IO according to the sense. It is impossible to
translate prepositions from one language to another out of context.
You can only learn prepositions by finding them and learning to use
them in genuine contexts, noting any particularly idiomatic or
exceptional usage. Here are some common English equivalents grouped
according to the case required:
DO Prepositions:
- durch
- through, by, by means of
- für
- for
- gegen
- against, towards
- ohne
- without
- um
- round, at (time of day)
IO Prepositions:
- aus
- out of, from
- bei
- with, at (so-and-so's house), near, in (such-and-such conditions or weather), during in the process/course of
- mit
- with
- nach
- to (certain locations, including one's own house 'nach Hause', after (time), according to
- seit
- since, for (period of time up to now)
- von
- from (place and time), by (indicating agency or authorship), of (possession)
- zu
- to (certain locations), at (e.g. home, 'zu Hause')
