The dative case is one of the most important German grammar topics. It tells us to whom or for whom something is happening in a sentence.
On this page, you can practise prepositions that require the dative case. The exercises that follow are designed for A2 learners, but you might also benefit as a more advanced learner (since prepositions can be hard to remember).
Recap: Dative Prepositions
Before getting started with the exercises, here's a quick reminder for you:
If you need more comprehensive explanations, check out our in-depth tutorial on the German dative case.
How to best practise dative prepositions?
To practise prepositions that always take the dative, start by learning
what each one means and how it's used in simple example sentences.
Then, do exercises where you choose the correct article (like dem, der, or den) after the
preposition (like the ones on this page).
You can also in the beginning write down short sentences with these prepositions, and speak them out loud to get used to the structure.
Dative Prepositions Exercises
Exercise 1: German Dative Prepositions
This first set of exercises includes the English translations for the prepositions we look for. You can also at any point in time click on the question mark symbol to see the correct preposition. Ready?
Exercise 2: German Dative Prepositions
This time without English hints. Look at the noun phrase that follows — if it's already in the dative (dem Weg, ihrer Freundin, meiner Mutter), the meaning of the sentence will tell you which preposition fits. Press enter to check.
Exercise 3: Choose the correct dative article
Now we flip it around — the preposition is given, and you fill in the dative article. The pattern: dem for masculine and neuter, der for feminine, den for plural (with an extra -n on the noun). One sentence asks for a possessive (seiner) — same dative endings, just a different stem.
The End
And that's it! How did you do?
The more you practise, the more natural German grammar will feel. Keep going with these exercises until you feel confident using the dative case in everyday sentences.
Come back to this page any time to review, practise, and improve.