LESSON 38

PREPOSITIONS / PRÄPOSITIONEN

Dative / Dativ – II

OBJECTIVE

 Introduction to dative preposition ‘bei, mit & nach’

 Meaning and application of ‘bei, mit & nach’

SUMMARY

In the previous lesson we completed our discussion about prepositions in accusative case and
focussed on the dative preposition ‘aus’. In this lesson we are going to continue with dative
prepositions. We would focus on three dative prepositions ‘bei, mit & nach’ and discuss their
features and applications. With the help of examples and exercises, these three prepositions would
be discussed in detail.

TEXT

In this lesson we are going to focus on three dative prepositions: bei, mit & nach. Like all the other
prepositions, these prepositions also have different meanings and usage based on the context.

 BEI

The preposition ‘bei’ is used to show the presence or proximity of a noun to another noun. Either
one of the nouns could be a place or a person, a place closer to another place or a person in
proximity of another person.
 Sie (N) wohnt bei ihrer Familie (D)
In this sentence the 3. Person singular pronoun ‘sie’ is shown in presence of her family ‘ihrer
Familie’ through the verb ‘wohnen’. The possessive article ‘ihrer’ is the dative form of the feminine
possessive article in nominative case, ‘ihre’ which is used with the feminine noun ‘Familie’. In the
previous lesson we discussed the changes taking place with the feminine possessive article from
nominative to dative where it changes its form from ‘ihre’ to ‘ihrer’.
 Er (N) ist beim Lehrer (D).
In this sentence the 3. Person singular pronoun ‘er’ is shown in the presence of another noun in
dative case. Here the dative preposition ‘bei’ is merged with the masculine definite article ‘dem’ in
dative case. This process is called contraction and it is usually with masculine article ‘der’ and neutral
article ‘das’, when they change their form to ‘dem’ in dative case. As the noun ‘Lehrer’ carries the

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article ‘der’ which in dative case becomes ‘dem’ and with the contraction with preposition ‘bei’ it
changes to ‘beim’.
 MIT

The preposition ‘mit’ basically means ‘along with something or someone’ or ‘to be together with
someone or somebody’. With both these broad meanings the preposition ‘mit’ could also generally
have the following contexts.

 Accompaniment – Here the preposition ‘mit’ means that somebody is accompanying somebody.
The preposition ‘mit’ here signifies the presence of two nouns and their co-existence.

 Ich (N) fahre mit meinen Groβeltern (D) in den Urlaub.

In the above sentence the 1st person personal pronoun ‘ich’ is accompanied by the grandparents
‘Groβeltern’ and this accompaniment is shown with the preposition ‘mit’. The possessive article in
dative plural ‘meinen’ is derived from the possessive article in nominative ‘meine’. We know that in
dative case the plural articles take the ending ‘(e)n’ and thus ‘meine’ becomes ‘meinen’.

 Method/Mean(s)/Medium – In this context the preposition ‘mit’ is seen as an instrument to do

something. The instrument could be a living or a non living object.

 Wir (N) fahren mit dem Zug (D).

In the above sentence the preposition ‘mit’ is used as means or as an instrument to travel. The 1st
person plural personal pronoun ‘wir’ is using a means of transport, train (der Zug). We know that
with the dative preposition the following article also changes. Hence, ‘der Zug’ changes to ‘dem Zug’
in the dative preposition case.

 NACH
The preposition ‘nach’ is one of the diverse prepositions in German language. Broadly it means ‘to’
or ‘after’. However, it is used in different contexts with different meanings.
 Goal/Direction – In this context ‘nach’ is used to show various directions. Broadly they can be
classified into the following contexts.
 Going towards house/home – In German whenever one is heading towards either house or
home, either by running, walking, driving etc. the preposition ‘nach’ is used. Then follows the
noun ‘Haus’. Although the noun ‘Haus’ carries the article ‘das’, it is not used after the
preposition ‘nach’.

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 Der Junge N) geht nach Haus (D).
in the above sentence the preposition ‘nach’ is used to show that the boy in nominative case ‘der
Junge’ is going towards/ to his home or house. As mentioned earlier, this use of ‘nach’ is applicable
in all the cases where the direction or destination is shown as ‘Haus’.
 Countries and cities without definite articles – The preposition ‘nach’ is used here for countries
which do not have definite articles associated with them. Here ‘nach’ is used to show the
destination or the direction in which the destination lies.
 Wir (N) fahren nach Chennai (D)
In the above sentence the 1st person personal pronoun ‘wir’ is shown as moving in the direction of a
place ‘Chennai’ which is preceded by the preposition ‘nach’ which indicates the destination for the
noun in the nominative case.
 Indicating Directions – Similar to the previous examples ‘nach’ is used to show the movement in
the context of immediate directions like towards left, right, front, back etc. In this case, ‘nach’
precedes the directions and no noun follows the preposition ‘nach’.
 Er (N) geht nach links (D)
In this sentence the 3rd person personal pronoun ‘er’ is turning towards left ‘links’ which is shown by
the preposition ‘nach’ which precedes the direction.
 Time - We are already familiar with the use of ‘nach’ in the context of telling time. However,
’nach’ is also used with nouns which show any incident, occurrence or event. Here the noun
follows the preposition ‘nach’ and the article changes into its dative form respectively.
 Wir (N) gehen nach dem Unterricht (D)
In this sentence the masculine noun ‘der Unterricht’ which is an event follows ‘nach’. The sentence
depicts that the 1st person personal pronoun ‘wir’ is going ‘after the class/nach dem Unterricht’.
‘Dem Unterricht’ as we know is derived from the masculine article and noun ‘der Unterricht’.
Sequence – In this context ‘nach’ is used to show the sequential occurrence of an event or a person
in a given order. Here ‘nach’ precedes the noun or the pronoun, which changes its form into dative
respectively.
 Wir (N) sprechen nach dem ersten Interview (D).
In this sentence the 1st person personal pronoun ‘wir’ is planning to speak ‘after the first
interview/nach dem ersten Interview’. ‘Das Interview’ becomes with the preposition ‘nach’ to ‘dem
Interview’ with the change in article.

As mentioned earlier the explanation given here regarding prepositions are quite basic in nature.
Each preposition implies a different meaning when it is used with other elements like nouns and

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verbs. In the next lesson we would continue our discussion about the remaining prepositions in
dative case.

CASE STUDY – This lesson does not require any case study.

FAQs

Q: Are contractions possible for all the prepositions in dative?

A: No. Only certain dative prepositions have the contractions. This would be discussed in further
lessons.

ASSIGNMENT

1. Please watch the video and revise the various features of prepositions ‘bei, mit & nach’.

2. Please list all the features of the above mentioned prepositions and based on the examples and
exercises in this lesson build as many new sentences (atleast 10-15). Please mark the various
cases in each sentence.

QUIZ - Choose the correct response from the given options.

1. Der Junge spielt ____ _____ Hund.

a) mit...den
b) mit...der
c) mit...das
d) mit...dem

2. Die Schüler fahren _____ Haus.

a) mit
b) nach
c) für
d) entlang

3. _____ _____ wohnt er?

a) Bei...wem
b) Bei...wer
c) Bei...wen
d) Bei...was

4. Priya wohnt nicht ______ ______ Familie.

a) bei...ihrem
b) bei...ihrer
c) bei...ihre
d) bei...ihren

5. Er fährt ______ _____ Kindern in den Urlaub.

a) mit...seinem
b) mit...seine

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c) mit...seinen
d) mit...sein

6. Die Studenten sind ______ ______Professor.

a) bei...dem
b) bei...das
c) bei...der
d) bei...den

7. Wo liegt Pune? _____ Mumbai.

a) Nach
b) Mit
c) Bei
d) Entlang

8. ____ ____ Film gehen wir ins Restaurant.

a) Nach...der
b) Nach...das
c) Nach...dem
d) Nach...den

9. Wann kommt die Lehrerin zurück? _____ _____ Urlaub.

a) Nach...ihre
b) Nach...ihr
c) Nach...ihrem
d) Nach...ihren

10. ____ ____ Auto fährt sie in den Urlaub.

a) Mit...ihr
b) Mit...ihre
c) Mit...ihrem
d) Mit...ihren

TUTORIALS
https://german.tolearnfree.com/free-german-lessons/free-german-exercise-68426.php
http://www.jabbalab.com/blog/15792/german-dative-prepositions

LINKS
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/prepositions-bei-von/gr-38302795
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/prepositions-mit/gr-38303187
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/time-specification-vor-nach/gr-38302305

REFERENCES
Funk, H. Studio d. A1, A2 Cornelsen, Berlin / Goyal Saab, Delhi

GLOSSARY

der Bus – bus

der Zug – train
der Unterricht – class
der Tag – day / die Tagen (Plural) – days

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die Freunden (Plural) – friends
die Studenten (Plural) – (university) students
die Arbeit – work, assignment, job
die Firma – firm, company
die Pause – break, recess
die Konferenz – conference

das Haus – house

das Fluzeug – aircraft, airplane, aeroplane
das Seminar – seminar
das Klassenzimmer – class room
das Konzert – concert

arbeiten – to work
wohnen – to live, to stay
fahren – to drive, to travel
lesen – to read
trinken – to drink
gehen – to go
aus/gehen – to go out
weiter/arbeiten – to work further, to work more
eine Pause machen – to take a break

zur – to, towards

immer – always
in den Urlaub – for vacation
früher – earlier
Frankfurt – a big city in Germany
Gieβen – a city near Frankfurt
Wetzlar - a city near Frankfurt
gerade – right now
nach links – towards left
nach rechts – towards right
im Urlaub – in/during vacation