A1Reviewed 2026-06-302 examples2 exercises2 checks
Accusative prepositions: durch, für, gegen, ohne, um
A small, fixed set of German prepositions always takes the accusative case — learn the five as a chant and the case follows automatically.
Some German prepositions always take the accusative, no matter what. The core five at A1 are:
- durch — through (durch den Park — through the park)
- für — for (für dich — for you)
- gegen — against, around (gegen die Wand — against the wall)
- ohne — without (ohne den Schlüssel — without the key)
- um — around, at (um den Tisch — around the table)
Because the case is fixed, you never have to think about it: after any of these, the article and any pronoun go into the accusative (der → den, du → dich). Learn the five as a rhythmic chant — durch–für–gegen–ohne–um — and the endings take care of themselves.
Examples
Das Geschenk ist für dich.
The gift is for you.
Wir gehen durch den Park.
We walk through the park.
Common mistakes
Not quite: Das Geschenk ist für dir.Correct: Das Geschenk ist für dich.
für always takes the accusative, so the pronoun is dich, not the dative dir.
Related topics
Practice
Das Geschenk ist für ___.
Wir gehen durch ___ Park.