How do accusative prepositions work in German?

Unlike in English, when you use a preposition in German, it demands a certain case. For example, the sentence 'I raced along the platform to catch my train' would translate into German as 'Ich rannte den Bahnsteig entlang, um den Zug zu erreichen'. In English, after saying along, the 'the' remains the same, where in German after Entlang, the usual 'der' before Bahnsteig changes to 'den', as entlang demands an accusative preposition. Whilst it's easy enough to learn why and how that takes the accusative form, there are a whole host of them that need remembering. I present: FUDGEBOW, an anagram which will help you to recall them all:F – Für (for) U – Um (around)D – Durch (through)G – Gegen (against)E –Entlang (along)B – Bis (until)O – Ohne (without)W – Wider (against/contrary, e.g. against the will of my friends)

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Answered by Benjamin M. German tutor

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