Prepositional Verbs
Prepositional Verbs
Many German verbs pair permanently with a specific preposition and case, much like English 'wait for' or 'depend on' — the challenge is that the German preposition rarely matches the English one, so these pairs must be learned as fixed units.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Fixed verb + preposition + case pairs
Ich warte auf den Bus. (I'm waiting for the bus.)
I'm waiting for the bus.
English already has prepositional verbs (wait for, depend on, believe in), so the concept isn't new — but the specific preposition almost never matches across languages. warten auf ('wait for', not 'wait on'), sich freuen auf ('look forward to', literally 'be happy on'), denken an ('think of/about', literally 'think on'), sich interessieren für ('be interested in', literally 'interested for'). Each pairing also fixes a case (auf + accusative here, since it's directional/goal-oriented), so these need to be memorized as full units — verb + preposition + case — not assembled from parts.
da-compounds replace 'preposition + it/that'
Ich freue mich darauf. (I'm looking forward to it.)
I'm looking forward to it.
When the object of a prepositional verb is a thing or idea rather than a person, German can't just say auf es — instead it fuses da(r) + preposition into one word: darauf, damit, dafür, daran (the -r- is inserted before a vowel-initial preposition, hence darauf not daauf). This closely parallels old-fashioned English 'thereof', 'therein' — an odd corner of English that happens to explain the German pattern well. For people, the normal preposition + pronoun is kept (Ich freue mich auf ihn — 'I'm looking forward to him').
wo-compounds ask the question form
Worauf wartest du? (What are you waiting for?)
What are you waiting for?
The question version follows the same fusion logic: wo(r) + preposition asks about a thing (worauf, womit, wofür, woran), while wen/wem + preposition asks about a person (Auf wen wartest du? — 'Who are you waiting for?'). English 'what... for' splits the preposition to the end of the sentence; German instead fuses it to the front as one question word.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| warten auf (+Akk) | VAR-ten owf | to wait for |
| sich freuen auf (+Akk) | zikh FROY-en owf | to look forward to |
| sich freuen über (+Akk) | zikh FROY-en UE-ber | to be happy about |
| denken an (+Akk) | DENK-en ahn | to think of/about |
| sich interessieren für (+Akk) | zikh in-ter-es-EE-ren fuer | to be interested in |
| teilnehmen an (+Dat) | TILE-nay-men ahn | to take part in |
| sich erinnern an (+Akk) | zikh air-IN-ern ahn | to remember |
| Angst haben vor (+Dat) | ahngst HAH-ben for | to be afraid of |
| sprechen über (+Akk) | SHPREKH-en UE-ber | to talk about |
| abhängen von (+Dat) | AHP-heng-en fon | to depend on |
| sich bedanken für (+Akk) | zikh beh-DAHNK-en fuer | to thank for |