FormAkkusativ + entlang (nachgestellt)
Meaning and usage
entlang means along and usually stands after its noun, not before it. The noun is then in the accusative: die Straße entlang, den Fluss entlang. This word order is the normal one in everyday German, so learn the pattern as a unit that follows the noun, like a small tail at the end of the sentence.
The case belongs to entlang itself, so it stays accusative no matter what else happens in the sentence. A common learner mistake is putting entlang before the noun with the wrong case, for example entlang die Straße. Before the noun, entlang is formal and takes the genitive: entlang des Parks. At A2 you can avoid this by always placing entlang after the noun.
Examples 4
Der Hund ging die Straße entlang.
The dog was walking down the street.
Wir gingen langsam die Straße entlang.
We walked slowly along the road.
Er ging die Straße entlang.
He walked along the street.
Er ging den Fluss entlang.
He walked along the river.
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Der Bus fährt zum Bahnhof.
Show answer
Correct answer: den Fluss entlang
After the noun, entlang takes the accusative, so it is den Fluss entlang.
- des Flusses entlang is genitive; the genitive only appears when entlang stands before the noun in formal style.
- der Fluss entlang is nominative, which does not fit after entlang.
- dem Fluss entlang uses dative, but entlang after the noun needs the accusative.
In this topic: Prepositions with a fixed case
- durch, für, gegen, ohne, um + Akkusativ durch, für, gegen, ohne, um + accusative
- gegen: against, around (time) against, or around a clock time
- die Straße entlang along the street, along the river
- bis morgen, bis zum Bahnhof bis: until, as far as
- aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu + Dativ Seven prepositions that always take the dative
- mit dem Bus, mit meiner Schwester with people and tools, by transport, always dative
- aus dem Haus, von der Arbeit aus and von both mean from, both take dative
- nach dem Essen, nach der Arbeit nach + Dativ: after a meal, after work, after school
- gegenüber dem Bahnhof opposite, across from, with the dative
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.