Polyglot Dictionary

auf

/aʊ̯f/

preposition A1

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

Prep Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Core Domain General Tone Neutral

Meaning

  1. on, onto, on top of

    Another two-way preposition: dative for resting on a surface, accusative for movement onto it.

    • Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.

      The book is on the table.

Similar words

in

auf means "on top of" a surface; in means "inside" a container or bounded space. Both take the same dative/accusative choice depending on whether there's movement.

Practice

1 What does auf mean?

2 Fill the gap: Das Buch liegt ___ dem Tisch.

See also

prepositioncore-vocabularygrammar

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