Prepositions and place
Location and destination: not “movement = accusative”
The two-way prepositions are an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen. With their spatial uses, distinguish an existing location (wo? → dative) from the destination/new spatial relation (wohin? → accusative).
Ich laufe im Park has movement inside a location, so dative. Ich laufe in den Park has the park as destination, so accusative.
This rule applies to these prepositions, not all movement sentences: Ich gehe zum Bahnhof still uses dative because zu takes dative. Position/action pairs often help: liegen/legen, stehen/stellen, sitzen/setzen.
- Example
- Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch.
- English
- The book is lying on the table. I put the book onto the table.
- Hinglish
- Kitaab mez par rakhi hai. Main kitaab mez par rakhta hoon.
Worked example
Ich bin zu Hause. Ich gehe nach Hause.
Hinglish: Main ghar par hoon. Main ghar jaa raha hoon.
These are fixed home expressions, not a general movement rule.