2.3.2 Two-way prepositions (accusative/dative)

Table of Contents

Introduction

In German, some prepositions can be used with either the accusative case or the dative case. These are called two-way prepositions. They are very important when you talk about travel, transportation, movement in a city, and where things are.

Two-way prepositions answer two kinds of questions: where something is, and where something is going. The meaning and the case change with this difference.

The List of Two-way Prepositions

The most common two-way prepositions are:

German	Basic meaning in English
an	at, on (vertical surface), by
auf	on, on top of
hinter	behind
in	in, into
neben	next to, beside
über	over, above, about
unter	under, below, among
vor	in front of, before
zwischen	between

You already know what prepositions are and what cases are. Here we focus on how these special prepositions switch between accusative and dative.

Core Rule: Movement vs Position

The key idea is the difference between movement to a place and location at a place.

With two-way prepositions:

Accusative = movement / direction (to where?)
Dative = position / location (where?)

You can connect this to the question words:

Type of question	German question	Case used	Example preposition phrase
Where to?	Wohin?	Accusative	in die Stadt, auf den Bahnhof
Where?	Wo?	Dative	in der Stadt, auf dem Bahnhof

If something or someone changes location, you use the accusative. If something or someone stays in one place, you use the dative.

Using Accusative with Two-way Prepositions

Accusative is used for a movement toward a goal, a clear direction, or when something goes from one place to another.

Typical verbs with movement are: gehen, fahren, fliegen, laufen, stellen, legen, setzen, bringen.

Look at these examples:

Ich gehe in die Stadt.
I am going into the city.
Question: Wohin gehe ich? In die Stadt. Movement into the city, so accusative.
Wir fahren auf den Berg.
We are driving up the mountain.
Wohin fahren wir? Auf den Berg. Movement up onto something, accusative.
Er stellt den Koffer unter den Tisch.
He puts the suitcase under the table.
Wohin stellt er den Koffer? Unter den Tisch. The suitcase moves from somewhere else to a position under the table, so accusative.

Here is a short table that shows the preposition phrase in accusative:

Sentence in German	Translation	Case in the phrase
Ich fahre in die Stadt.	I drive to the city.	Accusative
Wir gehen an den Fluss.	We go to the river.	Accusative
Sie legt das Buch auf den Tisch.	She lays the book on the table.	Accusative
Er stellt das Fahrrad vor das Haus.	He puts the bike in front of the house.	Accusative
Wir fahren zwischen die Häuser.	We drive between the houses.	Accusative

Notice the definite articles in accusative:

Nominative	Accusative
der Tisch	den Tisch
das Haus	das Haus
die Stadt	die Stadt
die Häuser (pl)	die Häuser

Accusative changes only the masculine article der to den. Feminine, neuter, and plural look the same in nominative and accusative, but you still need to think about movement vs position.

Using Dative with Two-way Prepositions

Dative is used to describe position or location. There is no movement to another place. Something or someone is staying where it already is.

Typical verbs without movement: sein, liegen, stehen, sitzen, hängen, wohnen, bleiben.

Examples:

Ich bin in der Stadt.
I am in the city.
Question: Wo bin ich? In der Stadt. It is a location, so dative.
Das Auto steht vor dem Haus.
The car is in front of the house.
Wo steht das Auto? Vor dem Haus. Position, dative.
Der Koffer liegt unter dem Tisch.
The suitcase is under the table.
Wo liegt der Koffer? Unter dem Tisch. Position, dative.

Here is a table with dative examples:

Sentence in German	Translation	Case in the phrase
Ich bin in der Stadt.	I am in the city.	Dative
Wir warten an der Haltestelle.	We wait at the bus stop.	Dative
Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.	The book is lying on the table.	Dative
Das Fahrrad steht vor dem Haus.	The bike is in front of the house.	Dative
Er wohnt zwischen den Häusern.	He lives between the houses.	Dative

Definite articles in the dative:

Nominative	Dative
der Tisch	dem Tisch
das Haus	dem Haus
die Stadt	der Stadt
die Häuser	den Häusern

Plural in dative usually gets an extra -n on the noun if there is not already an -n or -s.

Same Preposition, Different Case, Different Meaning

With two-way prepositions, the same preposition phrase can change its meaning depending on accusative or dative.

Here are some pairs:

in
Ich gehe in die Schule.
I go to school (movement, accusative).
Ich bin in der Schule.
I am at school (location, dative).
auf
Er legt das Handy auf den Tisch.
He puts the phone on the table (movement, accusative).
Das Handy liegt auf dem Tisch.
The phone is on the table (location, dative).
an
Wir fahren an den See.
We go to the lake (movement, accusative).
Wir sind am See.
We are at the lake (location, dative).
Note: am is a contraction of an dem, so it is dative.
unter
Die Katze läuft unter den Tisch.
The cat runs under the table (movement, accusative).
Die Katze sitzt unter dem Tisch.
The cat sits under the table (location, dative).

The pattern is always the same: movement to a new place uses accusative, rest at a place uses dative.

Two-way Prepositions in Travel and Transportation

In travel and transportation, you often talk about where you are and where you want to go. Two-way prepositions are very common here.

Compare these pairs with verbs of movement and verbs of position.

Bahnhof (train station) with auf
Wir gehen auf den Bahnhof.
We go to the station (movement, accusative).
Wir sind auf dem Bahnhof.
We are at the station (location, dative).
Stadt (city) with in
Morgen fahren wir in die Stadt.
Tomorrow we drive to the city (movement, accusative).
Jetzt sind wir in der Stadt.
Now we are in the city (location, dative).
Haltestelle (bus stop) with an
Der Bus fährt an die Haltestelle.
The bus drives to the stop (movement, accusative).
Der Bus steht an der Haltestelle.
The bus is at the stop (location, dative).
Brücke (bridge) with unter / über
Wir fahren unter die Brücke.
We drive under the bridge (movement, accusative).
Wir fahren unter der Brücke.
We drive under the bridge, staying there (for example in a tunnel) (location, dative).

Das Flugzeug fliegt über die Stadt.
The airplane flies over the city, from one side to the other (movement, accusative).
Die Wolken hängen über der Stadt.
The clouds hang over the city (position, dative).

These prepositions help you answer typical travel questions in German like:

Wohin fahren wir?
Wir fahren in die Stadt, an den See, auf den Campingplatz.

Wo sind wir?
Wir sind in der Stadt, am See, auf dem Campingplatz.

Verbs That Help You Choose the Case

Some verbs almost always mean movement, others almost always mean position. They are a good signal for the case.

Typical movement verbs followed by accusative after a two-way preposition:

gehen, fahren, fliegen, laufen, rennen, bringen, stellen, legen, setzen.

Example:

Ich bringe den Koffer in das Zimmer.
Wohin bringe ich den Koffer? In das Zimmer. Accusative.

Typical position verbs followed by dative after a two-way preposition:

sein, liegen, stehen, sitzen, wohnen, hängen, bleiben.

Example:

Der Koffer steht in dem Zimmer.
Wo steht der Koffer? In dem Zimmer. Dative.

Some verbs can mean both movement and position, depending on context. For example, fahren:

Wir fahren auf die Autobahn.
We drive onto the highway (movement, accusative).

Wir fahren schon auf der Autobahn.
We are already driving on the highway (location where the driving happens, dative).

Useful Contractions with Two-way Prepositions

In everyday German, some combinations of two-way prepositions with the definite article combine into one word. You will see these often, especially in short directions.

Here are some common contractions:

Full form	Contraction	Case	Example
an dem	am	Dative	Wir warten am Bahnhof.
an das	ans	Accusative	Wir gehen ans Meer.
in dem	im	Dative	Er ist im Zug.
in das	ins	Accusative	Er steigt ins Auto.
auf das	aufs	Accusative	Wir fahren aufs Land.
bei dem	beim	Dative	Ich bin beim Arzt.
zu dem	zum	Dative	Wir gehen zum Bahnhof.
zu der	zur	Dative	Sie fährt zur Arbeit.

Be careful: not all of these are two-way prepositions. Here the focus is on an and in and auf, but you will meet the others in real German. The case does not change when you use a contraction. It is only a shorter form.

Overview Table: Accusative vs Dative with Two-way Prepositions

Here is a compact overview with masculine nouns. It shows how the preposition, article, and noun look in each case.

Meaning	Question	Case	Example phrase (m.)	Sentence example
to the table	Wohin?	Accusative	auf den Tisch	Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch.
on the table	Wo?	Dative	auf dem Tisch	Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.
to the river	Wohin?	Accusative	an den Fluss	Wir gehen an den Fluss.
at the river	Wo?	Dative	an dem Fluss / am Fluss	Wir sind am Fluss.
in front of the house	Wohin?	Accusative	vor das Haus	Er stellt das Auto vor das Haus.
in front of the house	Wo?	Dative	vor dem Haus	Das Auto steht vor dem Haus.
behind the station	Wohin?	Accusative	hinter den Bahnhof	Der Bus fährt hinter den Bahnhof.
behind the station	Wo?	Dative	hinter dem Bahnhof	Der Bus wartet hinter dem Bahnhof.

For feminine and neuter, the articles change differently, but the rule movement vs position is always the same.

Summary

Two-way prepositions are a central part of talking about travel, directions, and locations in German. The rule is simple but important.

Two-way prepositions use:

Accusative for movement to a place (Wohin?).
Dative for position at a place (Wo?).

If you train yourself to always ask Wohin? or Wo?, you will choose the correct case more easily, especially when you talk about where you go and where you are during travel and transportation.

Vocabulary List

German	English
an	at, on, by
auf	on, on top of
hinter	behind
in	in, into
neben	next to, beside
über	over, above, about
unter	under, below, among
vor	in front of, before
zwischen	between
die Stadt	city
der Berg	mountain
der Koffer	suitcase
der Tisch	table
das Haus	house
die Häuser	houses
die Schule	school
der See	lake
der Fluss	river
der Bahnhof	train station
die Haltestelle	(bus) stop
die Brücke	bridge
die Autobahn	motorway, highway
das Handy	mobile phone
das Buch	book
das Auto	car
das Fahrrad	bicycle
die Katze	cat
der Arzt	doctor
das Meer	sea
das Land	countryside
der Zug	train
die Arbeit	work, job (place of work)
gehen	to go (on foot)
fahren	to go, to drive
fliegen	to fly
laufen	to walk, to run
bringen	to bring
stellen	to put, to place (upright)
legen	to lay, to put (flat)
setzen	to set, to seat
sein	to be
liegen	to lie (be lying)
stehen	to stand
sitzen	to sit
wohnen	to live, to reside
bleiben	to stay
wohin	where to
wo	where
am	at the, on the (an dem, dative)
ans	to the (an das, accusative)
im	in the (in dem, dative)
ins	into the (in das, accusative)
aufs	onto the (auf das, accusative)
beim	at the (bei dem, dative)
zum	to the (zu dem, dative, masc./neut.)
zur	to the (zu der, dative, fem.)

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