Stufe 1, Seite D

Do you remember what these vocabulary items from the Präsentation and Lesestück mean? Click on the arrow to see the English.

sich vorbereiten auf		to prepare for
sich entscheiden für		to decide on
sich spezialisieren auf		to specialize in
teilnehmen an		to participate in
studieren an		to study at (a university)
sich freuen auf		to look forward to

Did you notice that both languages have a preposition as part of the meaning? This is not at all unusual. Many languages have vocabulary items that consist of a verb plus a preposition, and this preposition has to be there, or the verb has a different meaning. The verb + preposition combination has to be learned as a single phrase, just as any other vocabulary item is (even if the English does not have a preposition!).

Let's get started on that task by doing this Jigword. (Even though some of the items are new, you can probably match them fairly easily. Do the activity frequently so you can learn them quickly.)

Now, how do you know which case to use after the preposition? For most prepositions, it's easy: if it's a dative preposition, use dative; if it's an accusative preposition, use accusative!

But what about the two-way prepositions? Since we're not talking about "location or direction" at all in these phrases, you can't go by that rule. So what do you do? The typical "textbook" answer is: "you just have to memorize them."

However, let's look a bit closer. First of all, with very few exceptions, only three of the two-way prepositions are used in these combinations at all: an, auf, and über. Secondly, in most of the verb + preposition combinations, these three are followed by the accusative. There are some that go with dative (mostly after an), and they must be learned. So a simple way to do it is to learn well the an, auf, and über combinations that go with dative, and assume all the others go with accusative. That's not so bad, is it?

Many students memorize short sentences with the dative ones and repeat them so often that it just "sounds weird" when they put an accusative. Examples might be:

"Ich nehme an dem Spiel teil."
"Ich studiere an der Uni."

Try it!

OK. Here's the full list that was in the Jigword. In this course, verb + preposition vocabulary items will list the case (D or A) only for the two-way prepositions. There is also a set of verb + prep flashcards below, so you can practice them that way also.

arbeiten an +D	to work on, work at
bitten um	to ask for
denken an +A	to think about
erkennen an +D	to recognize by
helfen bei	to help with
hoffen auf +A	to hope for
lachen über +A	to laugh about
s. entscheiden für	to decide on
s. erinnern an +A	to remember
s. freuen auf +A	to look forward to
s. freuen über +A	to be happy about
s. interessieren für	to be interested in
s. spezialisieren auf +A	to specialize in
s. vorbereiten auf +A	to prepare for
schreiben an +A	to write to
schreiben über +A	to write about
sprechen über +A	to talk about
studieren an +D	to study at (a university)
suchen nach	to seek for
teilnehmen an +D	to participate (take part) in
träumen von	to dream of
warten auf +A	to wait for

verb + prep flashcards

Nun, nimm ein Blatt Papier raus und nummeriere von 1 bis 12. Schreib die Präposition und den Artikel ("the") für jeden Satz. Wenn du fertig bist, kannst du beim Klicken die Antworten sehen.

1. Ich schreibe _____ _______ Lehrer.		(an den)
2. Er entscheidet sich _______ ________ Gymnasium.		(für das)
3. Wartest du _____ ____ Bus?		(auf den)
4. Sie denkt _____ _____ Großvater.		(an den)
5. Sie studiert _____ _____ Universität.		(an der)
6. Ich bitte _____ ______ Antwort.		(um die)
7. Wir bereiten uns ____ _____ Abitur vor.		(auf das)
8. Sie interessieren sich _____ ____ Buch, aber nicht _____ _____ Film.		(für das/für den)
9. Ich freue mich ______ _____ Konzert.		(auf das)
10. Wir haben _____ _____ Fehler (pl.) gelacht.		(über die)
11. Nimmst du _____ _____ Abiball teil?		(an dem)
12. Ich kann mich _____ _____ Antwort nicht erinnern.		(an die)

Benutze 9 von diesen Verben und schreib deine eigenen Sätze. Pass auf, dass du nicht die gleichen Sätze schreibst, wie in der Übung oben. (Use 9 of these verbs in your own sentences. Watch out that you don't use the same sentences that were in the exercise you just did.)

Diese Aufgabe hat 18 Punkte.

Weiter: Stufe 1, Seite E