The prepositions entgegen ‘against/contrary to’ and gegenüber ‘opposite’ usually
follow the noun, as does nach in the sense of ‘according to’:Sie wohnt dem Stadion gegenüber.
She lives opposite the stadium.Meiner Meinung nach ist das falsch.
In my opinion that’s wrong.NOTE In spoken German (an)statt, dank, trotz, während and wegen are also used with the dative.
They are, however, more commonly followed by the genitive (see 20.7).19.5 After certain prepositions when rest or movement at a place is implied. This includes:
an ‘on/at/by’
auf ‘on’ (a horizontal surface)
hinter ‘behind’
in ‘in’
neben ‘near/next to’
über ‘over/above’
unter ‘under/among’
vor ‘in front of’
zwischen ‘between’Das Bild hing über dem Bett. (Compare Er hängte das Bild über das
Bett.)
The picture was hanging over the bed. (He hung the picture over the
bed.).Ich saß zwischen meinem Bruder and seiner Frau. (Compare Ich setzte
mich zwischen meinen Bruder und seine Frau.)
I was sitting between my brother and his wife. (I sat down between my
brother and his wife.)Jeden Sonntag gehen wir auf dem Schulgelände spazieren. (Compare
Ich gehe gerade mit dem Hund aufs Schulgelände.)
We go for a walk in the school grounds every Sunday. (I’m just going
(in)to the school grounds with the dog.) See also^32 (p. 58), 38.2 (p. 93), 42.3e (p. 114) and 50.6 (pp. 131–2).
Notice the abbreviated prepositional forms:an + dem = am
bei + dem = beim
in + dem = im
von + dem = vom
zu + dem = zum
zu + der = zurSee 18.3 (p. 24).
19.6 With several verbs, the vast majority of which only ever have a dative object. The most
common include:
19
CASE SYSTEM