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German Accusative Prepositions: Für, Durch, Gegen, Ohne, Um

die Akkusativpräposition

Before this lesson: make sure you've covered Dative Prepositions first.

Just like the dative prepositions, these five always take the same case — no matter what follows, they force the accusative: für, durch, gegen, ohne, um. Two of them (gegen and um) carry a second meaning beyond their main one, so learn both uses.

See it in action

Preposition	Meaning	Example (German)	Example (English)
für	for	Das Geschenk ist für dich.	The gift is for you.
durch	through	Wir gehen durch den Park.	We walk through the park.
gegen	against	Er ist gegen den Plan.	He is against the plan.
gegen	around (approximate time)	Ich komme gegen acht Uhr.	I'm coming around eight o'clock.
ohne	without	Ich trinke Kaffee ohne Zucker.	I drink coffee without sugar.
um	around (a place)	Die Kinder sitzen um den Tisch.	The children sit around the table.
um	at (clock time)	Der Film beginnt um acht Uhr.	The film starts at eight o'clock.

Memory trick: Use the classic acronym DOGFU — Durch, Ohne, Gegen, Für, Um. If you can remember one made-up word, you already know all five accusative prepositions.

⚠ Common mistake: Don't confuse "um" (at, for clock time) with "gegen" (around, for approximate time) — "Der Film beginnt um acht" is an exact start time, while "Ich komme gegen acht" means roughly around eight, not exactly.

🎯 Quick check

Which case do für, durch, gegen, ohne, and um always take?

German Accusative Prepositions: Für, Durch, Gegen, Ohne, Um

See it in action

🎯 Quick check

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