Question
Updated on
6 Jul 2021
- Japanese
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German
-
Dutch
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English (US)
Question about German
What is the difference between auf and in and an ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between auf and in and an ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
i've heard that they are used as "at" or "in".
"ich wohne auf dem Land" Can i use "in" instead "auf"?
"ich wohne auf dem Land" Can i use "in" instead "auf"?
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6 Jul 2021
Featured answer
- German
- English (US) Near fluent
This one is kind of tricky.
Land can mean country as well as land(english land ^_^) in German. When refering to a country, you can use "in" as you would in english:
I live in Germany -> Ich lebe in Deutschland.
However, when refering to the physical land - as in 'a piece of land', you would say:
Ich lebe auf dem Land.
A brief explanation might make things a little more clear. All three words are used to express where something is, relative to a location.
'in' is used for 'inside'.
'auf' is used for 'on top'.
'an' is used for something similar to 'adjacent' or 'nearby'. I believe 近く is comparable, but please do not take this for granted, as my Japanese is very very limited.
Ich lebe in Deutschland.
Ich lebe auf dem Berg.
Ich lebe an der Grenze.
Read more comments
- German
- English (US) Near fluent
This one is kind of tricky.
Land can mean country as well as land(english land ^_^) in German. When refering to a country, you can use "in" as you would in english:
I live in Germany -> Ich lebe in Deutschland.
However, when refering to the physical land - as in 'a piece of land', you would say:
Ich lebe auf dem Land.
A brief explanation might make things a little more clear. All three words are used to express where something is, relative to a location.
'in' is used for 'inside'.
'auf' is used for 'on top'.
'an' is used for something similar to 'adjacent' or 'nearby'. I believe 近く is comparable, but please do not take this for granted, as my Japanese is very very limited.
Ich lebe in Deutschland.
Ich lebe auf dem Berg.
Ich lebe an der Grenze.
- Japanese
@some_person Danke!
when i am outside the station,"ich bin an dem Bahnhof.
i am inside,"ich bin in dem Bahnhof.
is this right?
when i am outside the station,"ich bin an dem Bahnhof.
i am inside,"ich bin in dem Bahnhof.
is this right?
- German
- English (US) Near fluent
Exactly ^_^. There is one other thing though. In German you would use "am" Bahnhof - which is basically a contracted form of "an dem". The same goes for "im" which represents "in dem".
So your sentences become:
Ich bin am Bahnhof.
Ich bin im Bahnhof.
There is one exception though, for the sake of completion ^_^. If there is a specific Bahnhof you are talking about, and you wish to say 'I am at this specific one', saying
"Ich bin an dem Bahnhof" emphasizes the fact, that you have been talking about this specific one. This is more of a niche case, though. An example would go like this:
A: "Kennst du den Bahnhof mit dem großen Eingang?"
B: "Ja."
A: "An DEM Bahnhof bin ich."
There are some nuances to this, but sticking to the rules is fine. People will still understand what you mean in both cases.
A tiny cheat-sheet:
Das Auto -> am / im Auto
Der Bahnhof -> am / im Bahnhof
Die Polizeistation -> an der / in der Polizeistation (no contractive form for nouns with 'die')
- Japanese
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