What are da-compounds in German?

A da-compound replaces a preposition's object when that object is a thing, not a person: Ich warte darauf instead of repeating the noun. The matching question word is a wo-compound, as in Worauf wartest du?

How do I learn German verbs with prepositions?

Learn the verb, its preposition and its case together inside one sentence, never as separate facts. Grouping them by case first, and revisiting pairs like sich freuen auf versus sich freuen über, helps the pairing stick.

Is the preposition after a German verb always the same as in English?

No, and that mismatch is exactly why these verbs need separate learning. Warten auf uses auf, not a word that maps directly onto "for" in "to wait for", so translating word by word from English will mislead you.

What is the difference between bestehen aus and bestehen auf?

Bestehen aus means to consist of, as in Der Test besteht aus drei Teilen. Bestehen auf means to insist on, and takes dative, as in Er besteht auf einer Antwort. They share a verb but mean unrelated things.

Why do German verbs need a fixed preposition at all?

Because the preposition carries part of the meaning, not just the grammar. Sich freuen auf and sich freuen über use the same verb but point at different things, ahead versus already present, so the preposition cannot be swapped freely.

Should I memorise German verbs with prepositions as a long list?

Not as an isolated list. Learn a handful at a time, always inside a full example sentence, and group them by the case they take so the grammar and the meaning reinforce each other.

Grammar in Context6 October 2026Worio Team

German verbs with prepositions: the list and how to learn it

Warten auf, denken an, sich freuen über: the verb and its preposition belong together. Here is the list and how to learn it.

Warten alone means to wait. Warten auf means to wait for something or someone, and the preposition is not optional, it is part of the verb. German has dozens of verbs like this, each one paired with a fixed preposition and a fixed case, and getting the pairing wrong is one of the most common ways an otherwise correct German sentence sounds off.

Why the preposition is part of the word

Think of these as two-word verbs rather than a verb plus a free-floating preposition. Sich freuen auf (to look forward to) and sich freuen über (to be happy about) share a verb but mean different things, because the preposition carries real meaning. Learning warten without auf is like learning half a word.

The list

Verb + preposition	Case	Meaning	Example
warten auf	Akk	to wait for	Ich warte auf den Bus.
denken an	Akk	to think of	Ich denke oft an dich.
sich erinnern an	Akk	to remember	Erinnerst du dich an den Urlaub?
sich gewöhnen an	Akk	to get used to	Ich gewöhne mich an das Wetter.
sich freuen auf	Akk	to look forward to	Wir freuen uns auf das Wochenende.
sich freuen über	Akk	to be happy about	Sie freut sich über das Geschenk.
sich interessieren für	Akk	to be interested in	Er interessiert sich für Politik.
sich kümmern um	Akk	to take care of	Wer kümmert sich um die Kinder?
achten auf	Akk	to pay attention to	Achte auf die Aussprache.
verzichten auf	Akk	to do without	Ich verzichte auf Zucker.
teilnehmen an	Dat	to take part in	Sie nimmt an dem Kurs teil.
abhängen von	Dat	to depend on	Das hängt vom Wetter ab.
Angst haben vor	Dat	to be afraid of	Er hat Angst vor der Prüfung.
träumen von	Dat	to dream of	Sie träumt von einer Reise.
sich beschäftigen mit	Dat	to deal with, to occupy oneself with	Ich beschäftige mich mit dem Thema.
gehören zu	Dat	to be part of	Das gehört zu meinen Aufgaben.
bestehen aus	Dat	to consist of	Der Test besteht aus drei Teilen.
sich bewerben um	Akk	to apply for	Er bewirbt sich um die Stelle.

Accusative or dative?

There is a rough shortcut, but it only takes you so far: von, mit, zu and aus always take dative, and für and um always take accusative. The harder cases are an, auf, über and vor, where the case depends on the specific verb and has to be learned with it, though in the fixed pairs above, auf and über are usually accusative and vor is usually dative.

da- and wo- words

When the object of the preposition is a thing, not a person, German usually replaces it with a da- compound, and the matching question word is a wo- compound: Worauf wartest du? Ich warte darauf. When the object is a person, you keep the preposition and add a pronoun instead: Auf wen wartest du? Ich warte auf ihn. Before a vowel, both compounds take an extra -r-, as in daran, woran, darüber and worüber.

Same verb, different preposition

A few verbs change meaning completely depending on which preposition follows. Sich freuen auf (to look forward to) is not the same as sich freuen über (to be happy about), the first points at something still ahead, the second at something already here. Bestehen aus (to consist of) is unrelated to bestehen auf (to insist on): Er besteht auf einer Antwort.

Learn the verb, its preposition and its case together, inside a full sentence, never as three separate facts. Warten plus auf plus accusative, learned as Ich warte auf den Bus, is one piece of knowledge, not three.

How to learn them

Learn five pairs at a time, always inside a sentence, never as a bare list.
Group them by case first (accusative or dative), it cuts the memorisation in half.
When you meet a new one in real German, write down the exact sentence it appeared in.
Revisit the "same verb, different preposition" pairs separately, they are the ones that cause mistakes months later.

How Worio helps

When you save a verb like warten in Worio, WordDNA shows you the preposition it takes, alongside an example sentence, so the two stay together instead of splitting apart in your notes. You can save words by pasting German text or typing them directly, and review them in four free practice modes, plus Story Practice, a Premium mode with occasional free passes from the daily gift.

If you are working toward B2 or C1, verbs with prepositions show up constantly in exam writing tasks, see B1 and B2 German writing and speaking templates for structures that use them in context. For the roots these verbs are built from, German word families is a useful next stop.

Worio keeps the verb and its preposition together, with an example sentence attached.

Save verbs with their prepositions in Worio

Frequently asked

It depends on the verb, not the preposition alone. As a rough shortcut, von, mit, zu and aus are always dative, für and um are always accusative, and verbs using an, auf, über or vor have to be learned case by case.