5.2 Prepositions with the dative
69
Um referring to place ‘(a)round’, ‘about’: Sie gingen um die Ecke. Er hat gern viele Mädchen um sich.
They went round the corner. He likes having a lot of girls around him.
referring to time: expresses a point in time with clock times ( ‘at’), otherwise expresses an approximation ( ‘about’):
Sie riefen um halb vier an. Sie kamen um die Mittagszeit (herum).
They phoned at half-past three. They came around lunchtime.
corresponds to English ‘about’, ‘concerning’, ‘in respect of’ after certain verbs and nouns: Hier ging es nur um Geld. Es war ein Streit um die Erbschaft.
This was simply a question of money. It was a quarrel about the inheritance.
5.2 Prepositions with the dative Aus referring to direction ‘out of’, ‘from’: Sie kamen aus dem Café. Ich bin aus der Übung gekommen.
They were coming out of the café. I’ve got out of practice.
referring to material ‘(made) of’: Die Kaffeekanne war aus Silber.
The coffee-pot was made of silver.
expresses a cause, a reason or a motive ‘for’, ‘from’, ‘out of’: Sie tat es aus Überzeugung. Ich frage nur aus Interesse.
She did it from conviction. I’m only asking out of interest.
Ausser expresses a restriction ‘except (for)’, ‘apart from’: Niemand sah ihn außer mir.
Nobody saw him except for/apart from me.
Bei referring to place, indicates approximate location ‘by’, ‘at’, including reference to where somebody lives or works: Potsdam liegt bei Berlin. Ich wohne bei meinen Eltern.
Potsdam is near Berlin. I live at my parents’.