Hallo, Deutschlerner.
Today I’ll explain some of the verbs that are often paired with the Wechselpräpositionen
or two-way prepositions and the dative case.
These are often called “verbs with fixed prepositions”, but as you may have seen
in my video about verbs with fixed prepositions, calling them this is problematic at best.
Today I’m only focusing on verbs used with two-way prepositions when they use the dative
case and the meaning of the preposition varies from the usual translation, as these are the
ones with which most learners struggle.
So without further ado, let’s get into the video.
First up we have the preposition “an”, which usually translates as “on”.
This would be simple enough if it weren’t for that pesky word “auf”, which also
means “on” and we have to decide which one to use.
Let’s try some examples and explore why they use “an” instead of “auf”.
arbeiten an - to work on Ich arbeite gerade an meinem Auto.
- I am working on my car right now.
This one is a pretty simple distinction.
You aren’t on top of your car.
You are working on it.
Since it could lead to some confusion if you used “auf”, we use “an” instead.
Whether you like it or not, most of the other times you need to say “on” with some sort
of expression, it is going to use “auf”, which I’ll show you once we are done with
the examples of “an”.
erkranken an - to get sick with Mein Bruder erkrankt an Durchfall.
- My brother is getting sick with diarrhea.
This one requires us to use a bit of the process of elimination in order to find out why we
used “an”.
Why not “mit”?
Well, that would mean that he is making himself sick with COVID-19, which kind of implies
he did it on purpose, which is probably not the case.
Why not “auf”?
That shows a physical location again, which is not an option when talking about a disease.
While we are on the topic of illness, you also use “an” when you die from something
for the same reasoning.
Mein Bruder stirbt an Durchfall.
- My brother is dying of diarrhea.
You also use “an” when you are suffering from something.
leiden an - to suffer from Er leidet an einem ganz schlimmen Fall von
Dummheit.
- He is suffering from a very bad case of stupidity.
You can also suffer under something, which is basically the same thing, but you have
to use “unter” instead of “an”.
leiden unter - to suffer due to Ich leide unter Heuschnupfen.
- I suffer from/under allergies.
You can use “an” with the verb “liegen” to express that something is due to something,
too.
liegen an (es liegt an) - to be due to sth. (it is due to)
Es liegt an seinem niedrigen Bildungsniveau.
- That is due to his low education level.
zweifeln an - to doubt about sb./sth. / to be dubious about sth.
Der Polizist zweifelt an der Unschuld des Mannes.
- The police officer is dubious of the innocence of the man.
As you can see from the examples so far, the preposition “an” when combined with a
verb and that dative case, shows a connection between the action and the reason or origin.
Think of it as a more figurative version of location.
There are a couple of ways to say that you are participating or taking part in something
with the preposition “an”.
sich beteiligen an - to participate in / to take part in
Die besten Schüler beteiligen sich aktiv am Unterricht.
- The best students participate actively in class.
teilnehmen an - to participate in / to compete in
Ich nehme heute an einem Marathon teil.
- I am participating in a marathon today.
One last example of “an” has nothing to do with the others, but is more of a perspective
switch from how people generally think of “an”.
hängen an - to be attached to Ein Stück Klopapier hängt an seinem Schuh.
- A piece of toilet paper is attached to his shoe.
In this one you see “an” being used as a literal location
Confused Student: But I thought ‘an’ was used for vertical things.
Herr Antrim: Unfortunately, your options are limited here.
You could try “auf”, but that means something is on top of something else and if it is hanging,
that clearly isn’t the case.
You could try “von”, but that is only used with “abhängen”, which is a different
verb and means “to depend upon”.
The other prepositions don’t really make much sense either.
This is another case where it just doesn’t work to use a different preposition, so we
are left with what we can use.
There is, of course, another preposition on the list of Wechselpräpositionen, which also
means “on”, “auf”.
The easiest way I have found to tell “an” and “auf” apart when they aren’t used
for their literal location meanings, is to translate “an” as “on” and “auf”
as “upon”.
Take a look at these examples to see what I mean.
basieren auf - to be based upon Dieser Film basiert auf einer wahren Begebenheit.
- This film is based upon a true event.
beruhen auf - to be based on / to rely on Dieser Film beruht auf einer Fernsehserie
von Joss Whedon.
- This film is based on a TV series by Joss Whedon.
The verb “harren” means “to await”.
Add the prefix be- and it becomes “to persist”.
Add the preposition “auf” to the mix and it means “to insist upon”.
beharren auf - to insist upon Das Mädchen beharrt auf ihrem Standpunkt.
- The girl digs in her heels.
(Literally: The girl insists upon her position.)
When you are mistaken about something, in German you are mistaken in that thing.
There are two verbs to express this in German.
For example:
irren (sich) in - to be mistaken about Meine Mutter irrt sich in fast jedem Fall.
- My mother is mistaken in almost every case.
sich täuschen in - to be wrong about Sie täuschen sich in ihm.
Er ist ein sehr netter Junge.
- You are wrong about him.
He is a very nice boy.
Our last preposition for today is “vor”, which usually means “before” or “in
front of”.
When used with certain verbs, however, the English translation doesn’t quite fit.
If you are escaping something or fleeing from it, you use “vor”.
fliehen/flüchten vor - to escape from / to flee from
Peter flieht vor dem alten Mann, Mr. McGregor.
- Peter flees from the old man, Mr. McGregor.
Viele Menschen flüchten vor dem Krieg in ihren Ländern.
- Many people are fleeing from the war in their countries.
Confused Student: How does that make any sense?
Why not “von”?
They are fleeing from those things.
Herr Antrim: Well, there are actually a few options with “flüchten”.
Check out these examples:
Herr Antrim flüchtet aus dem Gefängnis.
- Herr Antrim flees out of the prison.
Dann flüchtet er von der Insel.
- Then he flees from the island.
Er flüchtet vor Angst.
- He flees out of fear.
Confused Student: Ok.
Now I am even more confused.
How do I know which preposition to use?
Herr Antrim: When you are leaving somewhere, if you would use “aus” with any other
verb, use “aus” with “flüchten”.
Same with “von”.
If neither of those seem right for the situation or it is more abstract, use “vor”.
Ich gehe aus dem Haus.
Ich flüchte aus dem Haus.
- I am going out of the house.
I am fleeing out of the house.
Ich fliege von der Erde weg.
Ich flüchte von der Erde.
- I am flying away from the earth.
I am fleeing away from the earth.
Ich flüchte vor dem Sturm.
- I am fleeing away from the storm.
If you are afraid of something, you also use “vor”.
sich fürchten vor - to be afraid of Ich fürchte mich vor keiner Spinne, aber
diese Spinne ist riesengroß.
- I am not afraid of any spider, but this spider is gigantic.
You can also protect someone from something with the preposition “vor”.
schützen vor - to protect from Er schützt mich vor dem Regen.
- He is protecting me from the rain.
It naturally follows then that you would use “vor” with the verb “warnen”, too.
warnen vor - to warn about Der Obdachlose warnt uns vor dem Weltuntergang.
- The homeless man warns us about the end of the world.
That’s my list for today.
If you like this video, don’t forget to give it a thumbs up and leave a comment below
trying some of these verb and preposition combinations on your own.
If you want more German learning stuff, don’t forget to check out germanwithantrim.com.
Das ist alles für heute.
Bis zum nächsten Mal.
Tschüss.