Wechselpräposition

German

Etymology

From wechseln (“to change, alternate”) +‎ Präposition (“preposition”).

Noun

Wechselpräposition f (genitive Wechselpräposition, plural Wechselpräpositionen)

  1. (grammar) A preposition that can be construed with more than one grammatical case, with the sense depending on this choice of case.
    „Auf“ ist eine Wechselpräposition. ― “Auf” is a preposition taking more than one case.

Usage notes
  • With regard to German grammar, the alternation is always between dative and accusative. The basic rule for this alternation is very straightforward: Dative is used when the preposition describes a stationary position or movement within a confined space. Accusative is used when the preposition describes movement from A to B.
Die Kinder rennen in der Turnhalle. ― The children are running in the gym.
Die Kinder rennen in die Turnhalle. ― The children are running into the gym.
  • However, the choice is often less intuitive in figurative use or in combination with certain verbs. For example, you say ein Brett an die Wand schrauben (“to screw a board to the wall”), but ein Brett an der Wand befestigen (“to fasten a board to the wall”).

Declension
Declension of Wechselpräposition
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Wechselpräposition die Wechselpräpositionen
genitive einer der Wechselpräposition der Wechselpräpositionen
dative einer der Wechselpräposition den Wechselpräpositionen
accusative eine die Wechselpräposition die Wechselpräpositionen
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