German Verb Cheat Book (A2-B1 Level)
Table of Contents
- Verbs with Accusative Prepositions
- Verbs with Dative Prepositions
- Verbs with Two-Way Prepositions
- Verbs with Genitive Prepositions
- Verbs with Multiple Prepositions
- Reflexive Verbs with Prepositions
- Modal Verbs and Prepositions
Accusative Prepositions
durch (through)
- durchlaufen - to run through
- durchschauen - to see through
- durchsuchen - to search through
für (for)
- danken - to thank for
- sich bedanken - to thank for
- sich interessieren - to be interested in
- sorgen - to care for
- kämpfen - to fight for
- sich entscheiden - to decide for/on
- arbeiten - to work for
- bezahlen - to pay for
- sich bewerben - to apply for
gegen (against)
- kämpfen - to fight against
- protestieren - to protest against
- sich wehren - to defend oneself against
- verstoßen - to violate against
ohne (without)
- leben - to live without
- auskommen - to get by without
- sein - to be without
um (around/for)
- bitten - to ask for
- sich kümmern - to take care of
- sich sorgen - to worry about
- kämpfen - to fight for
- sich bewerben - to apply for
- gehen - to be about (es geht um)
Dative Prepositions
aus (from/out of)
- kommen - to come from
- bestehen - to consist of
- stammen - to originate from
- entstehen - to arise from
bei (at/with)
- helfen - to help with
- bleiben - to stay with
- wohnen - to live with/at
- arbeiten - to work at
mit (with)
- sprechen - to speak with
- reden - to talk with
- spielen - to play with
- fahren - to travel with
- beginnen - to begin with
- aufhören - to stop with
- sich beschäftigen - to deal with
- zufrieden sein - to be satisfied with
nach (after/to)
- fragen - to ask for
- suchen - to search for
- riechen - to smell of
- schmecken - to taste of
- sich sehnen - to long for
seit (since)
- warten - to wait since
- kennen - to know since
- leben - to live since
von (from/of)
- sprechen - to speak of
- träumen - to dream of
- erzählen - to tell of
- hören - to hear of
- wissen - to know of
- abhängen - to depend on
zu (to)
- gehen - to go to
- fahren - to drive to
- gehören - to belong to
- passen - to fit/suit
- gratulieren - to congratulate
- einladen - to invite to
Two-Way Prepositions
an (at/on/to)
Dative (location):
- arbeiten - to work at
- teilnehmen - to participate in
- leiden - to suffer from
- sterben - to die of
- zweifeln - to doubt
Accusative (direction):
- denken - to think of
- sich erinnern - to remember
- schreiben - to write to
- glauben - to believe in
auf (on/onto)
Dative (location):
- basieren - to be based on
- beruhen - to be based on
Accusative (direction):
- warten - to wait for
- hören - to listen to
- antworten - to answer to
- sich freuen - to look forward to
- sich konzentrieren - to concentrate on
- sich vorbereiten - to prepare for
- reagieren - to react to
- achten - to pay attention to
in (in/into)
Dative (location):
- leben - to live in
- wohnen - to live in
- sich befinden - to be located in
Accusative (direction):
- sich verlieben - to fall in love with
- sich verwandeln - to transform into
- übersetzen - to translate into
über (over/about)
Dative (location):
Accusative (direction/topic):
- sprechen - to speak about
- reden - to talk about
- diskutieren - to discuss
- nachdenken - to think about
- sich freuen - to be happy about
- sich ärgern - to be annoyed about
- sich aufregen - to get upset about
- sich informieren - to inform oneself about
- lachen - to laugh about
unter (under/among)
Dative (location):
- leiden - to suffer under
- verstehen - to understand by
Accusative (direction):
- sich mischen - to mix among
vor (before/in front of)
Dative (location):
- stehen - to stand before
- Angst haben - to be afraid of
- sich fürchten - to be afraid of
- warnen - to warn of
- schützen - to protect from
Accusative (direction):
- sich verstecken - to hide from
Genitive Prepositions
wegen (because of)
- sich entschuldigen - to apologize because of
- klagen - to complain because of
trotz (despite)
- machen - to do despite
- weitermachen - to continue despite
Multiple Prepositions
abhängen
- von (dative) - to depend on
- ab (separable prefix) - to take down
achten
- auf (accusative) - to pay attention to
- achten - to respect
ändern
- an (dative) - to change about
- ändern - to change
antworten
- auf (accusative) - to answer/respond to
- antworten - to answer (someone)
arbeiten
- an (dative) - to work on
- bei (dative) - to work at
- für (accusative) - to work for
- mit (dative) - to work with
beginnen
- mit (dative) - to begin with
- beginnen - to begin
sich beschäftigen
- mit (dative) - to deal with/occupy oneself with
bestehen
- aus (dative) - to consist of
- auf (dative) - to insist on
- bestehen - to pass (an exam)
sich bewerben
- um (accusative) - to apply for
- bei (dative) - to apply to/at
bitten
- um (accusative) - to ask for
- bitten - to ask/request
denken
- an (accusative) - to think of
- über (accusative) - to think about
- denken - to think
diskutieren
- über (accusative) - to discuss about
- mit (dative) - to discuss with
sich entscheiden
- für (accusative) - to decide for
- gegen (accusative) - to decide against
sich erinnern
- an (accusative) - to remember
erzählen
- von (dative) - to tell about
- über (accusative) - to tell about
- erzählen - to tell
fahren
- mit (dative) - to travel by/with
- nach (dative) - to travel to
- zu (dative) - to drive to
fragen
- nach (dative) - to ask for/about
- fragen - to ask
sich freuen
- auf (accusative) - to look forward to
- über (accusative) - to be happy about
gehen
- zu (dative) - to go to
- nach (dative) - to go to
- um (accusative) - to be about (es geht um)
gehören
- zu (dative) - to belong to
- gehören - to belong
glauben
- an (accusative) - to believe in
- glauben - to believe
haben
- Angst vor (dative) - to be afraid of
- Lust auf (accusative) - to feel like
helfen
- bei (dative) - to help with
- helfen - to help
hören
- von (dative) - to hear from/about
- auf (accusative) - to listen to
- hören - to hear
sich interessieren
- für (accusative) - to be interested in
kämpfen
- für (accusative) - to fight for
- gegen (accusative) - to fight against
- um (accusative) - to fight for
kommen
- aus (dative) - to come from
- zu (dative) - to come to
- von (dative) - to come from
sich konzentrieren
- auf (accusative) - to concentrate on
sich kümmern
- um (accusative) - to take care of
lachen
- über (accusative) - to laugh about
leben
- von (dative) - to live on/off
- mit (dative) - to live with
- in (dative) - to live in
leiden
- an (dative) - to suffer from
- unter (dative) - to suffer under
liegen
- an (dative) - to be due to
nachdenken
- über (accusative) - to think about
passen
- zu (dative) - to fit/match
reagieren
- auf (accusative) - to react to
reden
- mit (dative) - to talk with
- über (accusative) - to talk about
- von (dative) - to talk about
riechen
- nach (dative) - to smell of
schauen
- auf (accusative) - to look at
schmecken
- nach (dative) - to taste of
schreiben
- an (accusative) - to write to
- über (accusative) - to write about
sich sehnen
- nach (dative) - to long for
sorgen
- für (accusative) - to care for
- sich sorgen um (accusative) - to worry about
sprechen
- mit (dative) - to speak with
- über (accusative) - to speak about
- von (dative) - to speak of
sterben
suchen
- nach (dative) - to search for
- suchen - to look for
teilnehmen
- an (dative) - to participate in
träumen
- von (dative) - to dream of
sich unterhalten
- mit (dative) - to converse with
- über (accusative) - to talk about
sich vorbereiten
- auf (accusative) - to prepare for
warten
- auf (accusative) - to wait for
wissen
- von (dative) - to know about
- über (accusative) - to know about
wohnen
- in (dative) - to live in
- bei (dative) - to live with
zweifeln
Reflexive Verbs
sich ärgern
- über (accusative) - to be annoyed about
sich aufregen
- über (accusative) - to get upset about
sich bedanken
- für (accusative) - to thank for
- bei (dative) - to thank (someone)
sich bewerben
- um (accusative) - to apply for
- bei (dative) - to apply to
sich beschäftigen
- mit (dative) - to deal with
sich entscheiden
- für (accusative) - to decide for
- gegen (accusative) - to decide against
sich erinnern
- an (accusative) - to remember
sich freuen
- auf (accusative) - to look forward to
- über (accusative) - to be happy about
sich fürchten
- vor (dative) - to be afraid of
sich gewöhnen
- an (accusative) - to get used to
sich informieren
- über (accusative) - to inform oneself about
sich interessieren
- für (accusative) - to be interested in
sich konzentrieren
- auf (accusative) - to concentrate on
sich kümmern
- um (accusative) - to take care of
sich sehnen
- nach (dative) - to long for
sich sorgen
- um (accusative) - to worry about
sich unterhalten
- mit (dative) - to converse with
- über (accusative) - to talk about
sich verlieben
- in (accusative) - to fall in love with
sich vorbereiten
- auf (accusative) - to prepare for
sich wehren
- gegen (accusative) - to defend oneself against
Modal Verbs
können
- können - can/to be able to (no preposition with infinitive)
müssen
- müssen - must/to have to (no preposition with infinitive)
sollen
- sollen - should/to be supposed to (no preposition with infinitive)
wollen
- wollen - to want to (no preposition with infinitive)
dürfen
- dürfen - may/to be allowed to (no preposition with infinitive)
mögen/möchten
- mögen - to like (no preposition with infinitive)
- möchten - would like to (no preposition with infinitive)
Common Expressions with Prepositions
es geht um
- es geht um (accusative) - it's about
es kommt auf... an
- es kommt auf... an (accusative) - it depends on
es liegt an
- es liegt an (dative) - it's due to
Angst haben vor
- Angst haben vor (dative) - to be afraid of
Lust haben auf
- Lust haben auf (accusative) - to feel like
Zeit haben für
- Zeit haben für (accusative) - to have time for
Quick Reference Tips
Remember:
- Accusative prepositions: durch, für, gegen, ohne, um
- Dative prepositions: aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu
- Two-way prepositions: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen
- Genitive prepositions: wegen, trotz, während, statt
Common patterns:
- Verbs of communication often use mit (dative) for "with whom" and über (accusative) for "about what"
- Verbs of emotion often use über (accusative) for the cause
- Verbs of movement use accusative with two-way prepositions
- Verbs of location use dative with two-way prepositions
Study tip:
Learn verbs with their prepositions as fixed expressions. Practice with: "Ich denke an dich" (I think of you), not just "denken = to think."