Preposition Quiz 2 - Key
Akkusativ/Dativ-Präpositionen
ANSWER KEY - This 20-item quiz was based on our Two-Way Prepositions lesson. You should have reviewed that lesson and our other preposition pages before you took this quiz.
Annotated Answer Key - German 2-Way Prepositions Quiz
Thanks for taking PREPOSITION QUIZ 2. Here is an answer key plus some bonus prepositional tips. See detailed comments for each item following the answer key.
Correct answers are in bold type.
1. Karl, bitte stell die Vase auf den Tisch.
(Karl, please put the vase on the table.)
The "an den" choice was incorrect because a table is a horizontal surface and "an" is used for vertical surfaces. The "auf dem" answer was incorrect because this is an accusative (wohin?) situation, not dative. The vase is moving towards the table.
2. Heute muss man nicht an der Grenze halten.
(Today you don't have to stop at the border.)
The accusative phrase "an die" doesn't work here because it would indicate motion towards the border. But we're stopped AT the border: "an der Grenze" (wo? - dative). A border is treated like a vertical barrier, so "auf" doesn't work here either.
3. Meine Brille ist ins Wasser gefallen!
(My glasses fell into the water!)
English "into" is almost always "ins" (in das) with "das" nouns. - Wohin? - where to? Into the water.
4. Heute waren viele Leute in der Kirche.
(Today many people were at/in [the] church.)
Location: wo? (dative - where were the people?)
5. Vor zwei Jahren waren wir in der Schweiz.
(Two years ago we were in Switzerland.)
Dative plural nouns usually end in "n"! "Vor" with time is dative.
6. Die Elbe mündet in die Nordsee.
(The Elbe flows/empties into the North Sea.)
Accusative (wohin?): "into the North Sea"
7. Von Venedig sind wir über die Alpen nach München geflogen.
(From Venice we flew over the Alps to Munich.)
The Alps are "die Alpen" - here "über die Alpen" means "across the Alps". If we were hovering over the Alps (like a cloud, wo?), that would be "über den Alpen".
8. Ich will das Foto hinter den Schreibtisch hängen.
(I want to hang the picture behind the desk.)
"Hinter" is the opposite of "vor" and behaves just like that preposition. These kinds of phrases change to dative if an "auf" prefix is added to the verb: "Ich will das Bild hinter dem Tisch aufhängen."
9. Kannst du nicht zwischen den Zeilen lesen?
(Can't you read between the lines?)
Wo? - dative
10. Hans war ja zwei Monate in den USA.
(Hans was in the USA for two months.)
Wo war Hans? - dative plural answer; in German the U.S. is plural ("the United States [pl.] are...").
11. Das Buch liegt dort auf dem Tisch.
(The book lies [over] there on the table.)
Horizontal surface (auf) in the dative (wo?)
12. Ich warte dann vor dem Kino auf dich.
(I'll wait for you in front of the movie theater/cinema.)
Where (wo?) will you wait? = dative. (das Kino > dem Kino)
13. Wir übernachten unter freiem Himmel.
(We're spending the night under the open sky.)
Wo? - dative (of 'der Himmel') The adjective "frei" takes a strong -em ending because there is no article in front of it.
14. Ich sitze neben meiner Frau.
(I'm sitting next to my wife.)
Wo? - dative (of 'meine Frau')
15. Ja, Maria, du hast einen langen Tag vor dir.
(Maria, you have a long day ahead of you.)
Same reason (time) as in item 5.
16. Gehen Ihre Kinder schon in die Schule?
(Are your children already going to school?)
(Wohin? - where to?)
17. Der Reiter steigt aufs Pferd.
(The rider mounts [climbs on] the horse.)
Wohin? - where to? - "onto the horse" - auf das
18. Die Taube sitzt auf dem Dach.
(The dove/pigeon is sitting on the roof.)
Wo? - where?
19. Sie setzte sich an einen Tisch in der Ecke.
(She sat down at a table in the corner.)
While "sich setzen" is accusative (wohin?), the phrase "in der Ecke" is dative because it refers to where (wo?) the table is located.
20. Der Lehrer schreibt die Vokabeln an die Tafel.
(The teacher writes the vocabulary on[to] the blackboard.)
In German, when you write on the blackboard/chalkboard, you write "onto" it. Once the writing is there, it's "an der Tafel"! (Wo? - vertical surface)
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