To learn more about the types of words in the tables above, check out the posts below:
German Articles
What are the accusative prepositions in German and how to use them?
By: Ulrike Carlson Thu Jun 05 2025
The main five accusative prepositionsNo definition set for prepositionsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. in German are durch(through), für(for), ohne(without), um(around), and gegen(against), though a few other prepositions are sometimes also included in this list. Accusative prepositions are prepositions (words like “in,” “under,” or “with”) that are used before a nounNo definition set for nounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. or pronounNo definition set for pronounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. in the accusative case.
Accusative Preposition
Noun/Pronoun
(accusative case)
In this post, we’ll review how to use nouns and pronouns in the accusative case and go over when you should use each of the German accusative prepositions in a sentence. Ready to have a look? Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
How to use accusative prepositions in German?
Accusative prepositions in German are used before nouns or pronouns in the accusative case.
Accusative Preposition
Accusative Case
Ich gehe gern durch den Park.
I like walking through the park.
→ dictionary form: der Park
Gegen dich verliere ich immer!
I always lose against you!
→ dictionary form: der
Wir gehen eine Runde um unseren Garten.
We’re walking around our garden.
→ dictionary form: unser Garten
In German, nouns in the accusative case usually look just like their dictionary forms. However, other words that relate to nouns, like articles, possessive adjectives, pronouns, or adjectives, do change their form to reflect the noun’s case. You can see the accusative forms of some of these words illustrated below:
Type of word | Noun's Gender or Number | Translation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | ||
Definite article | den | die | die | die | the |
Indefinite article | einen | eine | ein_ | – | a(n) |
Negated indefinite article | keinen | keine | kein_ | keine | no |
Possessive adjective | mein_ | meine | mein_ | meine | my |
Possessive pronoun | meinen | meine | meins | meine | mine |
Adjective after a definite article | guten | gute | gute | guten | (the) good |
Adjective NOT after a definite article | guten | gute | gutes | gute | (a) good |
Personal pronouns (accusative) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | ||||
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
mich me | Informal: dich you |
| uns us | informal: euch you | sie them |
Formal: Sie you | Formal: Sie you | ||||
Tip
Accusative prepositions + ‘das’
Some accusative prepositions can combine with the definite article das(the (neuter)) to become a single word. Therefore, in spoken German, you will occasionally encounter words like:
durchs
=durch
das
fürs
=für
das
ums
=um
das
Here is how that might look in a sentence:
accusative
Welche Milch ist am besten fürs Baby?
Which milk is the best for the baby?
Lasst uns alle dreimal ums Haus gehen!
Let’s all walk three times around the house.
What are the accusative prepositions in German?
There are only five accusative prepositions which are commonly used in German:
durch
through
für
for
ohne
without
um
around
gegen
against
Additionally, many grammar books also list the following two words as accusative prepositions:
bis
until
entlang
along
The prepositions bis and entlang are special because they behave a little differently from the other five. We will explain them further below.
German also has a few other accusative prepositions like je(per) and wider(against), but these are quite rarely used. You can find information on these in our full list of accusative prepositions with examples.
Tip
Instead of memorizing these seven words, a much better way to learn them is by listening to some catchy songs about German prepositions.
When to use the accusative prepositions in German?
Like most German prepositions, there isn’t a 1-to-1 correspondence between the German accusative prepositions and English prepositions, so it’s helpful to look at all the uses of each one. Let’s go through them!
‘Durch’
The German preposition durch is used in two cases:
For movement “through” or “across” something:
accusativeSie läuft durch den Wald.
She’s walking through the forest.
To introduce the do-er (“agent”) of a passiveNo definition set for passiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. verb, usually translated as “by”:
accusativeDas Haus wurde durch den Wind zerstört.
The house has been destroyed by the wind.
‘Für’
The preposition für is typically used to introduce someone you’re doing something “for” or “on behalf of”:
accusative
Hier ist ein kleines Geschenk für dich.
Here’s a little present for you.
Ich lasse andere für mich entscheiden.
I’ll let others decide on my behalf.
‘Gegen’
The typical meaning of gegen is “against,” but sometimes it’ll be translated using a slightly different English preposition, like “into.”
accusative
Das Kind rannte beim Spielen gegen einen Baum.
While playing, the child ran into a tree.
→ Notice that though we use “into” in English, you can still comprehend that the child is colliding “against” the tree.
Tip
Make sure you don’t confuse gegen with entgegen, which also translates as “against” but then requires a dative case.
However, when referring to time, we’ll usually translate gegen as “around,” instead.
accusative
Wir treffen uns gegen zehn Uhr.
We’ll meet around ten o’clock.
‘Ohne’
Use the preposition ohne if you lack something and want to express the meaning “without”:
accusative
Ohne eine gute Lehrerin oder einen guten Lehrer kann man nicht lernen.
You can’t learn without a good (female or male) teacher.
'Um'
The preposition um can be used in three different contexts:
For a place, meaning “around”:
accusativeIch mag die Berge um mich herum.
I like the mountains all around me.
For a time, meaning “at”:
accusativeLasst uns um sieben Uhr treffen!
Let’s meet at 7 o’clock!
For a topic, meaning “about” (only in certain contexts):
accusativeUm welchen Ort geht es in der Geschichte?
Which place is the story about?
‘Bis’
As we said before, bis is different from the other five prepositions above. First, it tends to be used much more often as a conjunctionNo definition set for conjunctionLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. than as a preposition. Here’s an example:
Es wird lange dauern, bis wir uns wieder treffen.
It will be long until we meet again.
→ Notice that the phrase after bis contains a verb, treffen, so this is a clauseNo definition set for clauseLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., not a noun.
Second, as a preposition, bis is often used as part of the multi-word prepositions bis auf or bis zu, both of which mean “(up) to.” We use the accusative case after bis auf, but the dative case after bis zu.
- accusative
Das Konzert war bis auf den letzten Platz ausverkauft.
The concert was sold out to the last seat.
- dative
Ich begleite dich noch bis zum Bahnhof.
I’ll take you (all the way) to the station.
When bis is used as an accusative preposition on its own, it always introduces a deadline or stopping point in the future and is translated as “until” or “by.” In this use, it can never be followed by an article! Here are two examples:
accusative
Wir warten bis nächsten Montag.
We’ll wait until next Monday.
Bis diesen Samstag ist die Aufgabe erledigt.
The task will be done by this Saturday.
‘Entlang’
The meaning of entlang is “along.” This preposition is special because it only requires the accusative case when it follows the noun. Linguists call words like this postpositions.
accusative
Er rannte den Strand entlang.
He was running along the beach.
In contrast, when it comes before the noun, it requires the genitive case or, more rarely, the dative case, as in the second example below:
genitivedative
Er rannte entlang des Strandes / dem Strand.
He was running along the beach.
Summing up
As you can see, accusative prepositions in German are not so difficult! You have seen the seven most common ones above. If you want to review these and see a few less common ones, check out our table of German accusative prepositions!
Here are the most important take-aways from today’s article:
Accusative prepositions are used before nouns or pronouns in the accusative case.
There are seven accusative prepositions that are used frequently in German: durch, für, ohne, um, gegen, bis, and entlang.
There is not a one-to-one correspondence between the meanings of the prepositions in German and English, so it is better to always learn them in context.
Now, are you ready to practice? Check out these German accusative prepositions activities! Happy learning!
