Verbs with a fixed preposition

Some German verbs come welded to a preposition, and the preposition is not the one logic would suggest. You wait on a bus, think on your family, are interested for music. There is no rule — the pair is part of the word.

Learn the verb, the preposition and the case as one item: warten auf + Akkusativ.

That third part matters. The preposition fixes the case, and for the two-way prepositions it is fixed once and for all — no wo/wohin question to ask here.

Two pairs are worth a closer look. sich freuen auf is about something still to come — Ich freue mich auf das Wochenende (looking forward to it). sich freuen über is about something that already happened — Ich freue mich über das Geschenk (pleased about it).

freuen auf → ahead of you. freuen über → already there.

And sprechen takes two: mit for the person you talk to (dative), über for the topic you talk about (accusative). Both can appear at once: Ich spreche mit meinem Chef über das Projekt.

• Ich warte auf den Bus.

  I am waiting for the bus.

  auf + accusative, fixed

• Ich freue mich auf das Wochenende.

  I am looking forward to the weekend.

• Ich spreche mit meinem Chef über das Projekt.

  I am speaking with my boss about the project.

• Kannst du mir bei der Arbeit helfen?

  Can you help me with the work?

Now the part that makes these verbs usable in conversation. To ask about the thing, German does not say auf was — it glues the preposition onto wo(r)-.

wo + preposition → Worauf? Woran? Wofür? Worüber? (an r appears when the preposition starts with a vowel).

• Worauf wartest du?

  What are you waiting for?

  wo + (r) + auf

• Woran denkst du?

  What are you thinking about?

• Wofür interessierst du dich?

  What are you interested in?

  für starts with a consonant, so no r

To answer — or to refer back to something already mentioned — the same trick with da(r)-.

• Ich warte darauf.

  I am waiting for it.

• Ich denke daran.

  I am thinking about it.

• Ich freue mich darauf.

  I am looking forward to it.

  the single most useful one in this lesson

These compounds are only for things. For people, keep the preposition and a normal pronoun: auf ihn, an sie, mit ihm.

• Ich warte auf ihn.

  I am waiting for him.

  a person → auf ihn, never darauf

• Auf wen wartest du?

  Who are you waiting for?

  a person → auf wen, never worauf