German Verbs with Prepositions Exercises (With Answers)

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You have studied the lists, you know that Germans “wait upon the bus” instead of for it, and you understand the theory behind Verben mit Präpositionen.

Now it is time to put your muscle memory to the test.

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Grab a piece of paper or open a blank note on your screen. Below are two targeted practice levels designed to fix the most common beginner and intermediate traps. The answer key is waiting at the very bottom—no scrolling down until you have tried every single one!

Exercise 1: The Literal Trap (Choose the Preposition)

Fill in the blank with the correct German preposition (auf, an, über, von, vor). Do not translate directly from English!

  1. Ich warte schon eine Stunde ________ den Bus.
  2. Denkst du oft ________ deine Heimat?
  3. Er träumt nachts ________ einem schnellen Auto.
  4. Wir sprechen heute ________ das neue Projekt.
  5. Sie hat große Angst ________ dem großen Hund.

Exercise 2: The Case Challenge (Accusative vs. Dative)

The prepositions are already given. Your job is to put the definite article (der, die, das) into the correct grammatical case based on the verb-preposition combo.

  1. Ich freue mich auf ________ Urlaub (masc. $\rightarrow$ der Urlaub / future event).
  2. Er telefoniert gerade mit ________ Chef (masc. $\rightarrow$ der Chef).
  3. Wir danken dir für ________ Hilfe (fem. $\rightarrow$ die Hilfe).
  4. Sie interessiert sich sehr für ________ Buch (neut. $\rightarrow$ das Buch).
  5. Kannst du mir von ________ Reise erzählen? (fem. $\rightarrow$ die Reise).

Quick Mental Check Before You Grade Yourself

If you got stuck on Exercise 2, remind yourself of the two golden packages:

  • Strict Dative Prepositions: mit, nach, bei, von, zu, aus will never take the Accusative, no matter what the verb means.
  • The “Freuen” Split: sich freuen auf (+ Accusative) means looking forward to the future. sich freuen über (+ Accusative) means being happy about something happening right now.

Answer Key

Exercise 1: Prepositions

  1. auf (warten auf + Akk.)
  2. an (denken an + Akk.)
  3. von (träumen von + Dat.)
  4. über (sprechen über + Akk.)
  5. vor (Angst haben vor + Dat.)

Exercise 2: Cases

  1. den (auf takes Accusative here $\rightarrow$ masculine der becomes den)
  2. dem (mit is strictly Dative $\rightarrow$ masculine der becomes dem)
  3. die (für is strictly Accusative $\rightarrow$ feminine stays die)
  4. das (für is strictly Accusative $\rightarrow$ neuter stays das)
  5. der (von is strictly Dative $\rightarrow$ feminine die becomes der)

Final Thoughts

How did your score look?

  • 8–10 Correct: Fantastic. You have successfully re-wired your brain to stop translating preposition-by-preposition from English.
  • 5–7 Correct: Solid intermediate foundation. You likely know the prepositions, but got tripped up by the Dative/Accusative article shifts in Exercise 2.
  • Under 5: Totally normal! This is the exact point where most self-taught learners hit a speed bump.

Do not guess the cases next time. Jump over to our master guide on German Verbs with Prepositions: Cases (Akkusativ or Dativ) to see the patterns, or bookmark our curated List of Common German Verbs with Prepositions to keep growing your daily vocabulary.