Prepositions with the accusative (für, ohne, gegen, um, durch, bis)

You already know the accusative case for direct objects, and you've seen it show up after in when it means movement into somewhere (as in basic prepositions of place and time). This lesson covers a different, simpler group: a handful of prepositions that always take the accusative, whatever the sentence means — no motion-vs-location switch to think about at all.

Quick shortcut: für, ohne, gegen, um, durch, and bis always take the accusative. Unlike in, which changes case depending on motion versus location, these five (plus bis) never change — the noun after them is accusative every time.

The fixed accusative prepositions

You've already met um for clock time (um acht Uhr) — that's the same word, but its accusative behavior only becomes visible when it's followed by an article, since a bare time expression like acht Uhr has no article to change.

für — for

Für marks who or what something is intended for:

• Das Buch ist für dich. (The book is for you.)
• Ich kaufe eine Blume für meine Mutter. (I'm buying a flower for my mother.) — feminine meine, unchanged, but note it's the accusative form throughout, not a dative one

ohne — without

Ohne is the accusative opposite of mit (with), which you'll meet as a dative preposition separately:

• Ich trinke Tee ohne Milch. (I drink tea without milk.)
• Er kommt ohne seinen Bruder. (He's coming without his brother.) — masculine, sein → seinen

gegen — against, around

Gegen has two common meanings: physical or figurative opposition, and an approximate time:

• Das Auto fährt gegen den Baum. (The car drives into the tree.) — physical contact/opposition
• Ich bin gegen diesen Plan. (I'm against this plan.) — figurative opposition
• Wir kommen gegen sieben Uhr. (We're arriving around seven o'clock.) — approximate time, not exact like um

um — around

Beyond clock time, um also means physical "around":

• Die Kinder sitzen um den Tisch. (The children are sitting around the table.)
• Wir gehen um das Haus. (We're walking around the house.) — often contracted to ums Haus

durch — through

Durch describes movement through or across something, and can also mean "by means of":

• Der Zug fährt durch den Tunnel. (The train goes through the tunnel.)
• Ich habe die Nachricht durch einen Freund bekommen. (I got the message through a friend.)

bis — until, up to

Bis usually pairs with a bare time expression and skips the article altogether — so most of the time, there's no article to show its case at all. When an adjective comes along with the time expression, though, the accusative still shows up as an ending:

• Ich arbeite bis Freitag. (I'm working until Friday.) — no article, nothing visibly changes
• Ich bleibe bis nächsten Montag. (I'm staying until next Monday.) — masculine der Montag, and the adjective ending -en marks the accusative even with no article in sight

For a place rather than a time, German usually combines bis with a second preposition instead of putting an article directly after it — bis zum Bahnhof (up to the station, dative after zu), bis in den Wald (into the forest, accusative after in) — rather than bis dem/den Bahnhof on its own.

Contractions with das

Just like in das contracts to ins, three of these prepositions commonly contract with the neuter article das — especially in speech:

• für das → fürs — Das ist fürs Baby. (That's for the baby.)
• um das → ums — Wir laufen ums Haus. (We're running around the house.)
• durch das → durchs — Wir gehen durchs Zimmer. (We're walking through the room.)

Both forms are standard; the contraction is especially common in everyday speech, while the full form is often used for emphasis or clarity.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Das Geschenk ist für meinem Bruder. → ✅ Das Geschenk ist für meinen Bruder. (für is accusative, not dative — masculine mein becomes meinen, not meinem)
• ❌ Ich trinke Kaffee ohne dem Zucker. → ✅ Ich trinke Kaffee ohne den Zucker. (ohne is accusative too — don't reach for a dative form)
• ❌ Wir gehen durch der Park. → ✅ Wir gehen durch den Park. (masculine accusative is den, not der)
• ❌ Die Kinder sitzen um der Tisch. → ✅ Die Kinder sitzen um den Tisch. (same masculine accusative pattern)

Quick check

Fill in the correct accusative article:

1. Das Geschenk ist für ____ Kind. (das Kind, neuter)
2. Ich komme ohne ____ Schwester. (meine Schwester, feminine)
3. Wir gehen durch ____ Wald. (der Wald, masculine)
4. Die Katze läuft um ____ Haus. (das Haus, neuter — try the contraction too)

Key takeaways

• Für, ohne, gegen, um, durch, and bis always take the accusative — unlike in, they never switch case depending on motion versus location.
• Für = for, ohne = without, gegen = against/around (time), um = around (space, and clock time), durch = through, bis = until/up to.
• Gegen with a time expression means approximately, while um means exactly — gegen sieben Uhr (around seven) versus um sieben Uhr (at seven, precisely).
• Common spoken contractions with the neuter article: fürs (für das), ums (um das), durchs (durch das) — all optional, but very frequent in everyday speech.