Question 1

Why does the case never change for these prepositions?

Accepted Answer

Unlike Wechselpräpositionen (an, auf, über, in, and others, where the case depends on motion vs. location), the prepositions in this table always take the same case, no matter the context or the verb in the sentence. It just has to be memorized together with the preposition.

Question 2

Which German prepositions always take Akkusativ?

Accepted Answer

Durch, für, gegen, ohne, um, entlang, wider — all of them always take Akkusativ regardless of context. Entlang is the only one of these that usually follows its noun rather than preceding it.

Question 3

Which German prepositions always take Dativ?

Accepted Answer

Aus, außer, bei, entgegen, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, zu — all of them always take Dativ regardless of context.

Question 4

What's the fastest way to learn preposition cases?

Accepted Answer

The most effective way is to drill each preposition in context, inside a real sentence, rather than memorizing a bare list. The free Telegram bot Immer wiederholen does exactly that with spaced repetition: each preposition comes back for review right when you're about to forget its case.

German prepositions and cases

Table of prepositions

How to actually learn these

Practice prepositions in the bot

Präposition	Kasus	English
durch	Akkusativ	through
für	Akkusativ	for
gegen	Akkusativ	against
ohne	Akkusativ	without
um	Akkusativ	around
entlang	Akkusativ	along
wider	Akkusativ	against (formal/literary)
aus	Dativ	from/out of
außer	Dativ	except
bei	Dativ	at/near
entgegen	Dativ	contrary to/towards
gegenüber	Dativ	opposite/towards
mit	Dativ	with
nach	Dativ	after
seit	Dativ	since
von	Dativ	from/of
zu	Dativ	to