Verb–preposition patterns: worauf, darauf and people

Learn the verb, its preposition and its case together. Distinguish references to things or situations from references to people.

Some verbs select a particular preposition and case: warten auf + accusative, teilnehmen an + dative. Learn the whole pattern. The location/direction rule for two-way prepositions does not determine the case of these fixed verb complements.

For things or situations, da-/wo- forms can replace or ask about the complement: auf den Bescheid → darauf; worauf? Before a vowel, insert r: daran, woran, darauf, worauf. Before a consonant: damit, womit. Choose the preposition from the verb pattern, not from a translation of the question word alone.

When referring to people, use preposition + pronoun: auf wen?, auf ihn; mit wem?, mit ihr. In the examples here, darauf refers to a thing or situation, not to the colleague or brother. Gender and case still determine the personal pronoun.

A da-form can also point forward to a clause or action: Ich freue mich darauf, dich wiederzusehen. Sich freuen auf typically anticipates something; sich freuen über commonly expresses pleasure about something experienced or received. Do not treat every preposition with the same verb as having identical meaning.

Examples