Genau
Topic test · A1

The preposition um test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

“Let’s meet at eight.” In German:

Wir treffen uns um acht Uhr. Clock times take um + Akkusativ.

“I’ll come on Monday.” In German:

Ich komme am Montag. Days need an + Dativ (am).

“We’ll take a vacation in January.” In German:

Wir machen im Januar Urlaub. Months take in + Dativ (im).

“We sat around the table.” In German:

Wir saßen um den Tisch. In the sense of “around”, um takes the Akkusativ (den).

“He turned the corner.” In German:

Er bog um die Ecke. Turning a corner is expressed with the pattern um ... Ecke.

“I asked for help.” In German:

Ich bat um Hilfe. The verb bitten requires um + Akkusativ.

“I came to learn German.” In German:

Ich kam, um Deutsch zu lernen. The purpose construction um ... zu is a separate topic, but this is the correct usage here.

Der Zug fährt 14:30 Uhr ab.

The train leaves at exactly 2:30 p.m. (timetable).

An exact time takes um: um 14:30. If it were approximate, gegen; if it were a day, am.

Die Erde dreht sich die Sonne.

The Earth revolves around the sun.

Going around something is um + Akkusativ: um die Sonne · um den Tisch.

Es geht deine Zukunft. (the matter at hand is your future)

The pattern: es geht um … = it is about, the issue is. The language of meetings and films: Worum geht es?

The sentence “Wir treffen uns an acht Uhr.” is grammatically correct.

False. For clock times you use um, not an: um acht Uhr.

Wir saßen den Tisch.

We sat around the table.

um. To express “around something”, you use um + Akkusativ.

Build the sentence: I asked for help.

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

The verb bitten (to ask for) is always used with the preposition um.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. Exact clock time takes um

    um acht Uhr · um 14:30. If it is approximate, use gegen; for a day, am; for a month, im.

    Wir treffen uns um acht Uhr.

  2. Around: um + Akkusativ

    um den Tisch sitzen · um die Ecke biegen · sich um die Sonne drehen.

    Wir saßen um den Tisch.

  3. Asking for, and being about

    bitten um (to ask for) · es geht um (it is about). Fixed verb patterns carry um.

    Ich bat um Hilfe.

  4. um … zu = “in order to”

    The purpose infinitive: Ich kam, um Deutsch zu lernen. Don’t confuse it with the preposition um — here it works as a conjunction.

    um Deutsch zu lernen

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Ich komme am acht Uhr.

    Ich komme um acht Uhr.

    Clock time takes um; am belongs to days.

  • Ich bat für Hilfe.

    Ich bat um Hilfe.

    The preposition of bitten is um.

  • um dem Tisch

    um den Tisch

    um always takes the Akkusativ.

  • Es geht über deine Zukunft.

    Es geht um deine Zukunft.

    The pattern for “it is about” is fixed with um.