Accusative/dative prepositions

The accusative / dative prepositions and their most common meanings are:

an - to, close by (something vertical)

auf - onto, on top of (something horizontal)

hinter - behind

in - into, inside of

neben - next to

über - over, above

unter - below, under

vor - in front of

zwischen - between

Sein Bleistift liegt auf dem Tisch.
Wir gehen in den Laden.
Du stehst hinter ihnen.
Meine Mutter wohnt neben uns.

His pencil is lying on the table.
We are going into the store.
You are standing behind them.
My mother lives next to us.

Function

These prepositions use the accusative case to indicate:

: 1) Motion in a specific direction.

They use the dative case to indicate:

: 2) Position at a location
: 3) Undirected motion within an area.

1) Die Frau geht an die Tür.
2) Ein Mann steht vor ihr.
3) Sie bummeln in der Stadt herum. The woman goes to the door.
A man is standing in front of her.
They stroll around in the city.