Two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen) are prepositions that can take either the accusative or dative case, depending on the context. The case is usually determined by whether the sentence describes movement or a static location:
Accusative → Movement from A to B / Change of State / Direction (Answers the question Wohin? – Where to?)
Dative → Location / Position / Movement within a location (Wo? – Where?)
The following are the most common two-way prepositions are: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen.
And again a fun song here, if you would like to memorize the two-way prepositions.
an
- Er hängt das Bild an die Wand. (He hangs the picture on the wall.) → change of state
- Das Bild hängt an der Wand. (The picture hangs on the wall.) → location
auf
- Sie legt das Buch auf den Tisch. (She puts the book on the table.) → movement
- Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. (The book is on the table.) → location
hinter
- Der Hund läuft hinter das Haus. (The dog runs behind the house.) → movement
- Der Hund sitzt hinter dem Haus. (The dog sits behind the house.) → location
in
- Ich gehe in die Küche. (I go into the kitchen.) → movement
- Ich bin in der Küche. (I am in the kitchen.) → location
neben
- Er setzt sich neben seinen Freund. (He sits down next to his friend.) → change of state
- Er sitzt neben seinem Freund. (He sits next to his friend.) → location
über
- Die Katze springt über den Zaun. (The cat jumps over the fence.) → movement
- Die Lampe hängt über dem Tisch. (The lamp hangs over the table.) → location
unter
- Die Katze kriecht unter das Bett. (The cat crawls under the bed.) → change of state
- Die Katze schläft unter dem Bett. (The cat sleeps under the bed.) → location
vor
- Sie stellt das Auto vor die Garage. (She parks the car in front of the garage.) → change of state
- Das Auto steht vor der Garage. (The car is in front of the garage.) → location
zwischen
- Er setzt sich zwischen die zwei Stühle. (He sits down between the two chairs.) → change of state
- Er sitzt zwischen den zwei Stühlen. (He sits between the two chairs.) → location
Verbs That Signal Movement vs. Location
Certain verbs help indicate whether to use accusative or dative:
Movement → Accusative | Location → Dative |
legen (to lay/put) | liegen (to lie/be lying) |
setzen (to set/seat) | sitzen (to sit/be sitting) |
stellen (to place) | stehen (to stand/be standing) |
hängen (to hang something) | hängen (to be hanging) |
Contractions with Two-Way Prepositions
Two-way prepositions commonly contract with definite articles:
Preposition + Article | Contraction | Example |
an + das | ans | ans Fenster (to the window) |
an + dem | am | am Fenster (at the window) |
in + das | ins | ins Kino (to the cinema) |
in + dem | im | im Kino (in the cinema) |
Some expressions use a fixed case regardless of meaning. For example:
- auf Deutsch (in German) → always accusative
- im Internet (on the internet) → always dative
- auf der Party (at the party) → always dative
- am Wochenende (on the weekend) → dative
- bei der Arbeit (at work) → dative.
- zu Hause (at home) → dative