German Two-Way Prepositions

A preposition is a word such as for, without or to. Prepositions show the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other words and are usually placed before the noun or pronoun.

For example:
This cake is for you.
I can’t do it without your help.
He moves to Germany.

You can now learn even more on this topic with the help of a fun video and a grammar quiz. Simply check out our Information and Directions Module in level A2.

Prepositions and the Cases

German prepositions break down into four groups. Some of them use the accusative and some use the dative or genitive case. On top of this, there are also some that can be either accusative or dative, depending on the context of the sentence.

In this blog we’ll be looking at the ones that can be either accusative or dative. For more information on prepositions that are strictly accusative take a look at our German Accusative Prepositions Blog and for more info on the dative ones read our German Dative Prepositions Blog.

Two-Way Prepositions

Let’s look at the nine little beauties that can be either accusative or dative:

Two-Way Prepositions in the Accusative Case

Preposition	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
an (at, on top of)	an den	an die	ans
auf (on, onto, to)	auf den	auf die	aufs
hinter (behind)	hintern	hinter die	hinters
in (in, into, to)	in den	in die	ins
neben (next to, beside)	neben den	neben die	neben das
über (above, over)	übern	über die	übers
unter (under, underneath)	untern	unter die	unters
vor (in front of)	vor den	von die	vors
zwischen (between)	zwischen den	zwischen die	zwischen das

Two-Way Prepositions in the Dative Case

Preposition	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
an (at, on top of)	am	an der	am
auf (on, onto, to)	auf dem	auf der	auf dem
hinter (behind)	hinterm	hinter der	hinterm
in (in, into, to)	im	in der	im
neben (next to, beside)	neben dem	neben der	neben dem
über (above, over)	überm	über der	überm
unter (under, underneath)	unterm	unter der	unterm
vor (in front of)	vorm	vor der	vorm
zwischen (between)	zwischen dem	zwischen der	zwischen dem

After a few German two-way prepositions, a shortened form of the definite article can be merged with the preposition to make one word.

an + das = ans
an + dem = am
auf + das = aufs
in + das = ins
in + dem = im

Some other forms that aren’t as frequently used are hintern, hinterm, hinters, übern, überm, übers, untern, unterm, unters, vorm and vors.

When to use Accusative or Dative?

One of the first issues you will encounter when learning these prepositions is:

When should I use accusative and when should I use the dative case?

Which case to use depends on the meaning. Here is a quick overview:

Prepositions in the accusative case describe movement or show a change of location. These prepositions can answer questions that start with: Where to…?

For example:
Sie wollen auf die Party. (They want to go to the party.) ⇨ Where do they want to go to?

Prepositions in the dative case describe positions or refer to a static location. These prepositions can answer questions that start with: Where…?
For example:
Deine Tasche liegt auf dem Tisch. (The bag is on the table.) ⇨ Where is the bag?

Tip
If you aren’t quite confident with the prepositions and their shortened forms, stick to the long form, for example hinter dem or über das instead of hinterm and übers. It’s only the most frequently used ones that you should remember as they are quite commonly used.