What is the difference between auf den supermarkt and in den supermarkt ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.

Answers

matte_000

17 Sep 2021

German

I don't think there is any context where "auf den Supermarkt" is correct. Except if we are talking about a helicopter and the pilot asks "Wo soll ich hin fliegen?" (To where should I navigate?) and then the co-pilot says "auf den Supermarkt" (onto the super market).

Maybe there are some rare other circumstances. For example "Auf wen willst du die Schuld schieben?" (Who do you want to blame?); answer: "auf den Supermarkt" ((I want to blame) the super market).

"in den Supermarkt" on the other hand is a perfectly casual phrase. "Ich gehe in den Supermarkt." is something very ordinary.

softae

17 Sep 2021

English (UK)

@matte_000 thank you so much!! i was really confused because the explanation i got for "auf" was that to use it for when you're going to public spaces so like why use "in" if a supermarket is technically a public space

matte_000

17 Sep 2021

German

Hm.. interesting. Yes, there are places where "auf" is correct. For example, you can say "Ich gehe auf ein Festival" (I go to a festival) or "Er geht auf eine Party" (He goes to a party).

So this works with most types of events like festivals, parties, galas, concerts etc.

Then there is another thing with places that are literally flat under ones feet – for example places that have a name that ends in "-platz". For example "Sie wartet auf dem Beethovenplatz" (She waits at the Beethovenplatz). But in these situations I would most of the time prefer "am": "Sie wartet am Beethovenplatz" (She waits at the Beethovenplatz). This does also work with "Parkplatz" (parking lots): "Ich parke auf dem Parkplatz vor dem Supermarkt." (I park in the parking lot in front of the super market).

The final thing I can think of are (as you said) public spaces but you have to be careful as many foreigners tend to overuse this. You can almost always say "bei" instead and will be safer doing so. "Die Leute auf dem (/beim) Arbeitsamt waren heute sehr freundlich." (People at the employment office were very friendly today). "Auf (/bei der) Arbeit war heute viel los." (Work was busy today). "Unser Antrag wurde auf dem (/beim/vom) Rathaus abgelehnt." (Our petition was declined at the town hall).

matte_000

17 Sep 2021

German

And yes, technically you can say "Er war heute auf dem Arbeitsamt." (He was at the employment office today) or "Er war heute auf dem Rathaus/Job Center/Flughaven/Theater" (... town hall/job center/air port/theatre). But the number of places you can use this for is very limited (I don't think there is a clear cut way to identify them).

It's not as simple as "every public place". For example "Bundestag" is a very public place but "Ich war auf dem Bundestag" means literally that you have been on top of that building. Even "Theater" is an edge case – i think some fellow native speakers would deny that its viable and some wouldn't.

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What is the difference between auf den supermarkt and in den supermarkt ?