German A2 - Verbs with Prepositions

Many verbs in German are used in tandem with specific prepositions. Examples of similar combinations in English are: ‘to think about’, ‘to be afraid of’, ‘to suffer from’, etc. Very often, these prepositions have nothing to do with location or direction, but instead link verbs to nouns in a more abstract way.

German has its own set of verb-preposition combinations, but since the German learner doesn’t always have the luxury of hearing them being used in a natural environment, these combinations also have to be studied and memorized. By this point, a student may have already run across some of them: ‘denken an’, ‘sorgen für’, ‘Angst haben vor’, and a number of others. This lesson will introduce the student to verb-preposition combinations in a more deliberate and concentrated way, opening the door to greater fluency in both reading and speaking.

For students wishing to skim the highlights of this topic, the first two pages provide a good introductory view. These students can skip forward to the “More Example Sentences” section at the bottom of page 6. Here, nine frequently occurring verb-preposition combinations are illustrated in different tenses. For students wishing to delve deeper into the subject, the rest of the document provides plenty of information and new vocabulary to help assist in fluency.

Over 70 verb-preposition combinations are provided in this lesson. Twenty of these combinations are illustrated in example sentences, some color coded for clarity. (As a prerequisite, students should already be familiar with how to use reflexive verbs.)