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| Prepositional
Verbs and Adjectives |
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Summary
- On this page
you will find a list of common prepositional verbs, i.e. verbs that are typically
used in certain prepositions, like "wait for" or "Talk about" in English.
- Most German
prepositional verbs are also prepositional verbs in English, but the prepositions
used with the verbs are not always analogous. Thus "wait FOR" is "warten
AUF" (not "
warten FÜR") in German, "believe IN" is "glauben
AN" (not "glauben IN") etc. In some cases, a German
prepositional verb does not require a preposition in English.
For example, "I answer the question" is "Ich antworte AUF die Frage," and
"I doubt you" is "Ich zweifle AN dir." Such verbs are listed in bold
print in the table below. This page includes primarily verbs which
take prepositions that cannot easily be guessed by looking at their English
counterparts. ==> If a common prepositional verb is not listed here, chances
are the preposition is analogous to English, e.g "sprechen mit" <==> "to
speak with"; "wohnen in" <==> "to live in" etc.
- When
two-way prepositions are used in combination
with prepositional verbs, they no longer indicate motion or location, and
so the motion/location distinction
for deciding whether the preposition should be followed by a noun or pronoun
in the accusative or dative no longer applies. Instead, you need
to learn for each prepositional verb individually whether it will be followed
by nouns or pronouns in the accusative or in the dative. In the
table below, the case is listed in parentheses following each two-way preposition.
[==> No case is listed for accusative and dative prepositions, since you will
ALWAYS use accusative after accusative prepositions, and dative after dative
prepositions.] In the majority of cases, the two-way preposition will
be followed by nouns and pronouns in the accusative, as you can see in the
table below. ==>
If in
doubt, your best guess is to use the accusative with nouns and pronouns
following two-way prepositions associated with prepositional verbs.
- The
most common exceptions to this rule of thumb are prepositional verbs
with "vor," which are usually followed by nouns and pronouns in the
dative
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- Similarly,
when two-way prepositions are used in combination with certain adjectives,
they no longer indicate motion or location, and so again you need to learn
which case to use for each individual adjective + preposition combination.
More information on this is provided below.
At the third semester level at the University of Michigan, we will expect
you to be aware of this concept, but will not expect you to have memorized
the list of prepositional adjectives given below.
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Common
Prepositional Verbs For Which the Preposition is not Analogous to English |
| ab•hängen
von, hing ab, hat abgehangen |
to
depend upon |
| achten
auf (acc.) |
to
pay attention to |
| Angst
haben vor (dat.), hatte, hat gehabt |
to
be afraid of |
| antworten
auf (acc.) |
to
answer |
| auf•passen
auf (acc.) |
to
keep an eye on, look out for (kids, food on stoves...) |
| bestehen
aus, bestand, hat bestanden |
to
consist of |
| betteln
um |
to
beg for |
| bitten
um, bat, hat gebeten |
to
ask for, to request |
| denken
an (acc.), dachte, hat gedacht |
to
think of (as in: I'm thinking of you right now.) |
| denken
über (acc.), dachte, hat gedacht |
to
think of (as in: what do you think of X?) |
| denken
von, dachte, hat gedacht |
to
think of (as in: what do you think of X?) |
| (jemand)
erinnern an (acc.) |
to
remind (someone) of |
| es
geht um, ging, ist gegangen |
it
is a matter of |
| glauben
an (acc.) |
to
believe in |
| halten
von, du hältst, hielt, hat gehalten |
to
think of (as in: what do you think of X?) |
| hören
auf (acc.) |
to
obey, heed, listen to |
| leben
von |
to
live on (income, a job etc.) |
| nach•denken
über (acc.), dachte nach, hat nachgedacht |
to
think (deeply) about, to ponder |
| passen
zu |
to
match, to fit well together |
| rechnen
mit |
to
count on (something happening), to expect |
| schießen
auf (acc.), schoss, hat geschossen |
to
shoot at |
| setzen auf
(acc.) |
to
place a bet on |
| sterben
an (dat.), du stirbst, starb, ist gestorben |
to
die from |
| suchen
nach |
to
search for |
| trinken
auf (acc.), trank, hat getrunken |
to
drink to |
| etwas
verstehen von, verstand, hat verstanden |
to
know something about (in the sense of understanding and/or practical ability) |
| warnen
vor (dat.) |
to
warn against/about |
| warten
auf (acc.) |
to
wait for |
| etwas
wissen von, du weißt, wusste, hat gewusst |
to
know something about (factually) |
| zittern
vor (dat.) |
to
tremble with/for (cold, fear etc.) |
| zweifeln
an (dat.) |
to
doubt |
Reflexive
Verben mit Präpositionen
"(A)" or "(D)" following "sich" indicates whether the reflexive pronoun
will be in the accusative or dative for these verbs--as you can see,
the reflexive pronoun will be in the accusative for all the verbs listed
below.
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| sich
(A) ärgern über |
to
be annoyed/upset about |
| sich
(A) erinnern an (acc.) |
to
remember |
| sich
(A) freuen auf (acc.) |
to
look forward to |
| sich
(A) freuen über (acc.) |
to
be glad about |
| sich
(A) gewöhnen an (acc.) |
to
get used to |
| sich
(A) interessieren für |
to
be interested in |
| sich (A)
kümmern um |
to
look after, bother about |
| sich (A)
sehnen nach |
to
long for |
| sich
(A) sorgen um/sich Sorgen machen um |
to
worry about |
| sich (A)
verlieben in (acc.) |
to
fall in love with |
| sich (A)
vor•bereiten auf |
to
prepare for |
Additional
Usage Notes
denken
an, denken über, denken von, halten von, nachdenken über
Denken an is
used if one is thinking of someone/something in the sense of having thoughts
about it in one's head without necessarily thinking deeply or reflecting about
it; denken über, denken von and halten von are used
to ask people's opinions (what they think of something), and nachdenken
über is used if one is thinking about something more deeply, e.g.
in order to formulate an opinion or make a decision.
| Woran
denkst du gerade? |
What
are you thinking about right now? |
| Ich
denke an Rammstein. |
I'm
thinking about Rammstein. |
Was
denkst du von Rammstein?
Was denkst du über ihre Musik?
Was hältst du von ihren Liedtexten? |
What
do you think of Rammstein?
What do you think of their music?
What do you think of their song lyrics? |
| Ich
weiß nicht. Ich muss darüber nachdenken. |
I
don't know. I have to think about it. |
antworten
auf
Antworten auf
is identical to beantworten, which is used without a preposition.
Auf specifies what is being answered (a question, an offer, a challenge
etc.). The person being answered (if specified) will be in the dative,
since antworten is a dative verb.
Ich antworte
(dir) auf die Frage.
Ich beantworte (dir) die Frage. |
I'm
answering the question (for you). |
Sie antwortete
auf sein Angebot mit Gelächter.
Sie beantwortete sein Angebot mit Gelächter. |
She
answered his offer with laughter. |
suchen
nach
Suchen can
be used with or without nach. Nach is usually used if one
is searching for something more abstract.
Ich suche
meine Schlange.
Less common: Ich suche nach meiner Schlange. |
I'm
looking for my snake. |
Du suchst
nach Erfüllung.
Less common: Du suchst Erfüllung. |
You're
searching for fulfillment. |
sich
(A) sorgen um/sich Sorgen machen um
These are used to
express concern FOR someone or something. To express one's own
worries or nervousness, one uses sich Sorgen machen with wegen
[=because of]. Sich Sorgen machen um is much more common than sich
sorgen um, which sounds rather formal.
| Wo warst
du? Ich habe mir solche Sorgen um dich gemacht! |
Where
were you? I was so worried about you! |
| Die Studenten
machen sich Sorgen wegen des Examens/wegen dem Examen. |
The
students are worried about the exam. |
Die
Studenten machen sich Sorgen um das Examen. |
This
would mean the students are concerned for the exam, i.e. they are
concerened that something bad might happen to the exam [not to
themselves when they take the exam], e.g. that the exam might not happen
because of bad weather. |
Prepositional
Adjectives
Certain adjectives
are also commonly used with prepositions. For two-way prepositions, this
means the preposition no longer indicates motion or location, and so again you
need to learn which case to use for each individual adjective + preposition combination.
More information on this is provided below. At the third semester level
at the University of Michigan, we will expect you to be aware of this concept,
but will not expect you to have memorized the list of prepositional adjectives
given below. As is the case with prepositional verbs,
If in
doubt, your best guess is to use the accusative with nouns and pronouns
following two-way prepositions associated with prepositional adjectives.
- The
most common exceptions to this rule of thumb are prepositional adjectives
with "vor," which are usually followed by nouns and pronouns in the
dative, and "interessiert an," which is also followed by the dative.
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| begeistert
von |
enthusiastic
about |
| bereit zu |
ready,
prepared, or willing to (do something) |
| böse
auf (acc.) |
angry
at |
| fähig
zu |
capable
of (doing) |
| gespannt
auf (acc.) |
in
suspense about; anxiously/excitedly awaiting |
| gewöhnt
an (acc.) |
accustomed
to, used to |
| interessiert
an (dat.) |
interested
in |
| neidisch
auf (acc.) |
jealous
of |
| sicher vor
(dat.) |
safe
from |
| stolz auf
(acc.) |
proud
of |
| überzeugt
von |
convinced
of |
| verrückt
auf (acc.) |
crazy
about |
| wütend
auf (acc.) |
furious
at |
| wütend
über (acc.) |
furious
about |
Usage Examples:
Prepositional Adjectives
Below are some usage
examples. Note that the word order depends on whether you want to emphasize
the adjective or the noun:
| Ich bin
verrückt auf dich. |
I'm
crazy for you (emphasis on "verrückt," i.e. on how intensely the
speaker feels about the person s/he is addressing). |
| Ich bin
auf dich verrückt. |
I'm
crazy for you (emphasis on "you," i.e. the speaker is specifying that
s/he is crazy about the person s/he is addressing, as opposed to someone
or something else). |
Ich bin
an Enttäuschungen gewöhnt.
Ich bin gewöhnt an Enttäuschungen. |
I'm
used to disappointments (emphasis on "disappointments"). |
Ich bin
zu allem bereit.
Ich bin bereit zu allem. |
I'm
ready for anything (emphasis on "anything"). |
| Ich bin
davon überzeugt, daß du und ich für einander bestimmt
sind. |
I'm
convinced that you and I are destined for each other. |
| Ich bin
daran interessiert, mit dir essen zu gehen. |
I'm
interested in going out to eat with you. |
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