B1 · intermediate · 19/20 #SIFATEDAT

Adjective + preposition

Adjektive mit Präpositionen

Some German adjectives are fixed to one particular preposition (auf, mit, an and so on) and always appear with it, such as stolz auf or zufrieden mit.

Just like verbs, some German adjectives are glued to a particular preposition (for example, “to be proud of something” -> stolz auf). You have to memorise which case (Akkusativ/Dativ) that preposition then takes on the noun.

Contents

Right now: the adjective’s glued-on preposition

ShortcutJust like verbs that take a preposition, adjectives take one too. English has these pairs as well (“proud of you”, “interested in”), but the German preposition often differs from the English one: stolz always goes with auf (literally “on”), not with “von” (of).

Ich bin stolz auf dich.

I’m proud of you. (auf literally means “on”, but you don’t translate it word for word)

Bist du zufrieden mit dem Ergebnis?

Are you satisfied with the result? (mit = with)

You already do this in English (with fixed prepositions)

In English you say “satisfied with”, “interested in”, “dependent on”: the adjective and its preposition come as a pair. German works the same way, but the prepositions do not always match the English ones.

English	German (with preposition)	Trap
satisfied with the result	zufrieden mit dem Ergebnis	same as English: mit
proud of the children	stolz auf die Kinder	not von (of): auf
interested in this topic	interessiert an diesem Thema	not in: an
dependent on money	abhängig vom Geld	not auf (on): von

Don’t translate these patterns word for word; learn them as blocks: “stolz auf, zufrieden mit”.

Table: the five most common adjectives and their cases

The case of the noun after the preposition (Akkusativ or Dativ) depends directly on the adjective itself (Rektion). With two-way prepositions (an, auf), the adjective sets the rule: interessiert an always takes the Dativ, while stolz auf always takes the Akkusativ.

Adjective + preposition	Case required	Example
zufrieden mit	Dativ	mit dem Job
abhängig von	Dativ	von der Technik
interessiert an	Dativ	an der Kunst
stolz auf	Akkusativ	auf den Sohn
verantwortlich für	Akkusativ	für das Projekt

mit and von always take the Dativ, für always takes the Akkusativ. With the two-way prepositions an and auf, however, the adjective itself decides the case.

Trap: translating word for word

Trap

Choosing the preposition by translating

If you translate word for word, the wrong preposition slips in (with, of, in…), and you end up saying mit dir or von dir. But stolz always takes auf (Akkusativ), so you have to say auf dich.

Ich bin stolz mit dir.

A big mistake, caused by translating word for word.

Ich bin stolz auf dich.

Correct.

Practice now

What you just learned

___ bist du stolz? Auf meine guten Noten.
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Worauf — When you ask about a thing, wo(r) + preposition is used (Worauf).
Er ist interessiert für das Buch. — this sentence is grammatically correct.
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False. The adjective "interessiert" takes "an" (Dativ), not "für": "Er ist interessiert an dem Buch."
Er ist stolz auf ___ (der Sohn).
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seinen Sohn — stolz auf takes the Akkusativ. When masculine der Sohn goes into the Akkusativ, the possessive becomes seinen, too.

The part nobody tells you: asking questions

When you want to ask a question with these adjectives and you are talking about people, you put the preposition first: Auf wen bist du stolz? (“Who are you proud of?”). But if you are talking about a thing, you use the “wo-” words: Worauf bist du stolz? (“What are you proud of?”).

06Build

Build the sentence yourself

Tap the words and put them in order. This is the hardest part of German — and there are no options to pick from, you build it.

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Tips

Know this before the test

The core of the topic in three lines, then the mistakes people make most often.

Learn the patterns as a whole
Always learn the adjective together with its preposition and the case (Kasus) it takes: stolz auf (Akk), zufrieden mit (Dat).
Ich bin zufrieden mit meinem Auto.

Ich bin stolz mit meinem Sohn.
Ich bin stolz auf meinen Sohn.
Being proud is not used with “mit” but with “auf” (Akkusativ).

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Test yourself

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Bist du stolz deine Leistung?

Are you proud of your performance?

auf — stolz auf + Akkusativ is a fixed pair. Adjective-preposition pairs can’t be guessed from English; you memorise each adjective together with the preposition it comes with.

Ich bin sehr zufrieden meinem neuen Handy.

I’m very happy with my new phone.

mit — zufrieden mit is a fixed pair. Since mit always takes the Dativ anyway, what follows is meinem Handy.

Wir sind abhängig Öl.

We depend on oil.

vom — abhängig von + Dativ. Because das Öl is neuter, the Dativ article is dem, and von dem contracts to vom.

Wer ist verantwortlich diesen Fehler?

Who is responsible for this mistake?

verantwortlich is always used with für (Akkusativ).

Sie ist interessiert der neuen Stelle.

She is interested in the new position.

an — interessiert an + Dativ is a fixed pair: an der neuen Stelle. There is no such use as interessiert für.

Er ist stolz auf (der Sohn).

He is proud of his son.

seinen Sohn — stolz auf takes the Akkusativ. When masculine der Sohn goes into the Akkusativ, the possessive becomes seinen, too.

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