Prepositions requiring the Dative

The prepositions listed below require the Dative case. Please note that the changes only happen after the preposition and only for the phrase that is governed by that preposition.

There are two groups of prepositions:

1) the first group always takes the Dative,

2) the second group are dual-case prepositions as they could take either the Dative or the Accusative case, depending on the intended use (motion or location - see below for more details)

Group 1 - prepositions that always take the Dative

Deutsch	English
mit	with
nach	after, to
bei	at, near
von	from, by
zu	at, to
seit	since, for
aus	from, out of
ausser	apart from, except for, besides
gegenüber	opposite (could go before or after the object)

The prepositions statt (instead of), trotz (inspite of), während (during) and wegen (because of) are often used with the Dative in spoken language although they are originally Genitive case prepositions.

Group 2 - dual-case prepositions (Dative or Accusative)

Deutsch	English
an	at, on, to
auf	at, to, on, upon
hinter	behind
in	in, into
über	about, above, across, over
unter	under, among
neben	beside, near, next to
vor	in front of, before, ago (time)
zwischen	between

The basic rule for determining whether a two-way preposition should have an object in the accusative or dative case is motion (wohin? - where to?) versus location (wo? - where?). If there is motion towards something or a specific location, then usually that is Accusative. If there is no motion at all or random motion going nowhere in particular, then that is usually Dative. Remember, this applies only to the two-way prepositions! Here are two sets of examples:

Wir gehen ins Kino. (in das, accus.)

We're going to the movies/cinema. (motion towards)
Wir sind im Kino. (in dem, dat.)
We're at the movies/cinema. (location)

Legen Sie das Buch auf den Tisch. (accusative)

Put/Lay the book on the table. (motion towards)
Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. (dative)
The book's lying on the table. (location)