in

Based on: *en
Goethe A1 Preposition
  1. in
  2. in
  3. in
1.

in

Opposite: aus
(For locations. Take Accusative or Dative depending on whether it is destination or fixed location (to where vs where). Also )
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Examples
  • Ich rufe dich in 5 Minuten zurück.
  • I will call you back in 5 minutes.
  • Practice pronunciation - click once to start recording and again to stop
2.

in

Opposite: vor
(In the temporal sense. This one goes with Dative.)
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Examples
  • Ich werde in einer Stunde fertig sein.
  • I will be done in an hour.
3.

in

(Direct import from Engish "in", in the sense of fashionable.)
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Examples
  • Das neue Café ist wirklich in.
  • The new café is really in.

Word Family

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Sources for Etymology:

My Articles

German Time Prepositions – Meaning, Usage, Example

We'll go over the important time prepositions in German (bis, seit, vor,...), see what they express and what common mistakes to avoid. With plenty of audio examples :)

Vocab: vor, in, bis, seit, ab

Read article →

Locations and Prepositions in German – The Quiz

Hello everyone, And welcome back to “Practicanuary”. The whole of January (and maybe also a little of February), we’ll do a series of quizzes for various topics. The very first one was about how to use the word lieber to express preference (find it here). Then we had a fun one about some nice German expressions (you can find it here). And today, things are getting real, because today, we’ll take a first jab at a topic that has low key frustrated every German learner at some point. Locations and their prepositions in German  Talking about location is one of those topics that I have yet to cover, and I actually hope to get to it this year. But today, we’ll start with a nice juicy quiz about it. And not just a quiz. It’s a quiz with benefits. 0 0 votes Article Rating <a href="https://yourdailygerman.com/meaning/in/">Dive in <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

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Questions and Comments

Do you have questions about the usage or meaning of “in”? Just ask here and I’ll try to clear it up.

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2 Comments
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Jlock6
Jlock6

If I want to translate “I want to go to bed” in German, it seems like the standard translation is: “Ich will ins Bett.”

Why isn’t this translated as “Ich will ins Bett gehen?” The standard translation sounds like “I want in the bed” which feels really weird.

Reply
Emanuel
Author
Emanuel
Reply to  Jlock6

It’s quite common in German to just use a modal verb if the other is clear from context or not really important.

  • Ich will ins Bett.
  • Ich will ein Bier.
  • Ich will nach New York.
  • Ich kann Deutsch.
  • Mama, kann ich ein Eis? (this is pretty colloquial)
  • Ich muss nach Hause

I don’t even really think of these as a long version where the verb got left out. They’re “enough” as they are and adding the actual verb sometimes makes them sound super clunky or formal.
Hope that helps.

Reply

How many meanings does the German word 'in' have?

in has 3 distinct meanings: 1. in, 2. in , 3. in.

What is 'in' related to?

The word 'in' is related to *en.

Where can I learn more about 'in'?

Here are some articles where you can learn more about 'in':

German Time Prepositions – Meaning, Usage, Example
We'll go over the important time prepositions in German (bis, seit, vor,...), see what they express and what common mistakes to avoid. With plenty of audio examples :)
Vocab: vor, in, bis, seit, ab
Read article

Locations and Prepositions in German – The Quiz
Read article