Hello everyone,
and welcome to our German Word of the Day and today it is time for a
“What is the Difference”-Special.
I guess you all have come across this kind of words… they appear to be similar and yet you know that there must be a secret difference only comprehensible to natives as it seems. In this section, we will talk about those words and unveil what has been an unsolved mystery before.
Today, we will take a look at the difference between:
hinter and hinten
I am sure that most of you have seen those words before and you kind of know that they have something to do with behind, so both words are used to talk about location. But when to use which?
I will try to explain the difference rather than to give translations for both words because those would be confusing. Behind can mean either one of the 2 depending on the sentence. So let’s put on a smart look and THEORIZE… yeah!!!
The next sentence is going to sound really stupid but please indulge me. If you want to specify a location in a sentence you need to tell the full location… … … This can be done in 2 ways, either by “naming” the location directly or by indicating it relative to another location.
Most of the time, what we do is the latter. When you say that you are in the kitchen, you location is expressed by giving the relation between you and the location kitchen. You are in the kitchen. If you say, that you are on Times Square, you are specifying your location telling us where it is relative to Times Square.
This is exactly the function of prepositions by the way – they express local or temporal relations between things and person.
Now you may ask how the other way, the “naming”, works. Well, whenever you say something like here, there, downstairs or overseas, you are just “naming” the location. You say the “name” and the location is clear, given that the person you talk to knows what the name stands for. German has more “names” than English. On the right for instance is using a relation with the preposition on, but in German you just say rechts, so there rechts is a “name”. The grammatical term for words like here and there is adverb but I’d say they are actually more like pronouns. Anyway, we can also just call them “names”… ok, no, they are too useful to deserve that… we denominate them as “names”.
So this being said let’s look at the difference between hinter and hinten. Hinter is a preposition while hinten is a name and hence…. oh wait… the red exception phone is ringing. Gotta take the cal real quick…
Yes listening, what’s up?… Damn it, true!… Would have been to easy after all wouldn’t it?… Thanks man… yeah, later!
Sorry, so turns out hinter is a preposition MOST of the time. I will discuss the exception in a minute. But let’s stick with the norm first.
So hinter is used to relate two things to one another. Just by itself it is (most of the time) not a complete information yet.
- Ich bin hinter…. NOPE!
This sentence would make any German ask “Hinter was?” (“Behind what?”).
- Ich bin hinter dem Baum.
- I am behind the tree.
Hinten, on the contrary to hinter, is already a proper answer to the question Where?
- Ich bin hinten.
- I am in the back.
Of course the person you talk to has to have some idea as to what hinten refers to. But often enough this is the case.
- Im Auto sitze ich gerne hinten.
- In the car I sit in the rear.
Now it seems as if hinter is behind, and hinten is in the back. For the most part this is correct. But not always:
- Ich rufe von hinter dem Haus.
- I shout from behind the house.
- Thomas nimmt Maria von hinten.
- Thomas takes Maria dogg… oh uhm… from behi... damn. My precious G-rating… must quickly modify the German sentence.
- Thomas nimmt Maria von hinten in den Arm.
- Thomas hugs Maria from behind.
In the first example it is hinter because you are expressing a relation between you and the house. In the second example behind is a name for a place. The question is from where and the answer from behind.
So you really should remember the conceptual difference as opposed to mere translations.
Now before be get to a great surprise, we need to look at the exception regarding hinter. I said it is used to express relations between things. But in some cases it is used as a name of a location… or to be precise as the name of a destination. In that function it is a proper answer to the question Where to and it means the same as nach hinten.
- Ich gehe hinter.
- Ich gehe nach hinten.
- I go to the rear. (literal)
When could this be used? Well for instance in a thrift store, the owner goes to check something in the storeroom.
This exception however does not concern hinten. Hinten is always a name and full stop. And don’t get confused by things like the following.
- Meine Brille liegt hinten im Auto.
- My glasses are in the back of the car.
Also here, hinten is technically a proper answer to where. But in this case the hinten is rather undefined, and the context must be given right away by saying in the car.
So to recap, hinten is a “name” of a location and as such you can answer the question Where? by simply saying hinten, given that the context is known.
Hinter is a preposition and it puts things or persons in a relation to one another. So hinter needs to be followed by a noun or person to make sense as a location.
And now, if you have understood this concept, I have some good news for you because you can use it to explain the difference between unter and unten, vor and vorn(e) , auf and oben, in and drin and aus and draussen. The first words are the prepositions, so they need to be completed by a noun. The other words are names and, some context provided, can answer the question where? all by themselves.
And what if you want to use the “names” as a destination or origin? Well, the former is built with nach and the latter with von. Examples? Of course :):
- Wohin gehst du? Nach hinten.
- Where do you go (to)? To the rear.
- Von wo kommst du? Von unten.
- Where do you come from. From down below.
So, this was our first rendition of “WitD – What is the Difference“. If you have any questions or suggestions please leave me a comment. I hope this was helpful and I hope to see you next time.
Hallo – is hinter a substitute for nach? I had a similar question as Joseph…
Thank you very kindly
No, not really. They can both be used in contexts of sequence, but it’s safer not to interchange them (as it will most likely not work).
Hi
My question is more about the definition of hinter. I hear quite frequently:
Hinter mit und hinter zu steht immer ein dativ Objekt.
Am I not hearing correctly? Why wouldn’t nach be used where hinter is used?
Thanks so much
So the difference between oben and über; unten and unter; vorn and vor, is the same as that between hinten and hinter?
Pretty much, yes!
Another fantastic article! Do unter/unten work the same way as hinter/hinten? If they do I’m guessing the below is also true (correct me if I’m wrong)
Unten is an adverb meaning at the bottom / downstairs
Unter is a preposition meaning under / underneath / below sth
Also do oben and vorn work a similar way?
You pretty much nailed it. Except “nach unter” is not idiomatic, instead you’d just say “unter” (which has a directional component built in, just like “hinter”.
I’ve been wanting to edit this article for so long. It’s one of the oldest and it’s not as comprehensive as it could be. I just never get around to doing it.
Glad you made the transfer though. The basic principles apply to all kinds of directions.
2 Fragen:
In dem Beispiel: “Von wo kommst du? Von unten. “- kann man auch “Woher” anstatt “von wo” sagen?
Und wie würden Sie “hinterher” erklären?
Im Prinzip geht “woher” auch, aber für meine Ohren nur, wenn die Person schon da ist.
Wenn ihr darüber sprecht, wo ihr euch trefft, dann ist “von wo” oder “aus welcher Richtung” besser. Aber das kann meine ganz persönliche Auffassung sein.
“hinterher” hat zwei Bedeutungen. Räumlich meint es die Idee von “jemandem folgen”.
– Ich laufe dir hinterher.
Und zeitlich meint es das gleiche wie “danach”.
– Wenn ich zum Arzt gehe, gehe ich hinterher immer ein Eis essen, als Belohnung.
Danke. Ich finde Ihre Erklärungen immer hilfreich!
Super, das freut mich :)!
Ist “oben” und “über” ein Paar? Und “unter” vs “unten”?
They can be… it depends on how you interpret the pair “hinter” – hinten
1. The preposition: hinter – über – unter
2. directional adverb: hinter – hoch/rüber – runter
3. fixed location adverb: hinten – oben/drüber – unten/drunter
Let me know if you have follow up questions :)
soo is it wrong to say , Ich rufe von hinten dem Haus.
Yes, that doesn’t work. Let me know if you have questions about that.
more WitD please. :)
Do you have suggestions? I’m actually out of ideas for that …
I have a question
Ich bin nach hinten and not Ich bin hinten…
Is it so with Ich bin oben? I mean does it need a preposition?
Plus I have heard people saying.. Ich gehe auf…
Is that more umgangsprachlich or it is kinda right :)
Danke sehr im Voraus :)
Thank you, you explain things well. I, too am German and will teach German in US and wish I could explain this things like you :)
Viele Grüße aus Marburg!
Well, you can just steal it ;)
You’ll do great, I’m sure. Just don’t stick with books too much and instead trust your own feel for the language.
Viel Erfolg!!
Sorry for being off topic, but I have to ask something I am really confused about. So to make use of your last reply, can you please explain what is the difference between “ich konnte helfen” and “ich hätte helfen können”.
So in a nutshell, the first one says that there was an opportunity to help and it leaves it open whether or not I did. The second one says that there was an opportunity to help but implies that I didn’t. Hope that helps
Dieser Post war super hilfreich! Nie mehr verwechsele ich vor und vorn oder hinter und hinten, Vielen dank!
Freut mich, dass ich helfen konnte :)
Super! Herzlichen Dank!
Thanks for the clear and comprehensive explanation! :)
Wow your articles really helped me a lot! Been struggling with German grammar and had no one to ask but Mr Google. So thank you.
Gerne :)
Warum sind oben und auf ein Paar? Ich habe gedacht, dass auf und drauf ein Paar sind.
zB Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.
Das Buch ist drauf.
For me oben sounds like “this side up” or “the up-side.” and drauf is “on top”.
GUte Frage. Also, die da-Wort-Versionen gibt es auch, die sind aber spezifischer.
– hinter dem Haus
– dahinter
– auf dem Tisch
– d(a)rauf
Das “da” zeigt auf ein bestimmtes Nomen. Das ist bei “hinten” und “oben” nicht so.
– Ich bin oben (auf dem Dach) /hinten (auf dem Rücksitz).
“oben” ist quasi so wie “links” oder “rechts”, nur in der Vertikalen. Englisch hat da irgendwie kein gutes Wort für (upstairs, up high, up there, up). Die Präposition “auf” fängt nur einen Aspekt von “oben” ein, nämlich “on top of”. Insofern wären auch “über” und “oben” ein Paar. “oben” ist allgemeiner als die Präsositionen.
Hope you could read all this. Let me know if not :)
Alles klar. Ich möchte es lieber eigentlich, wenn du alles auf Deutsch erklärt. Auf diese Art könnten wir lehren wie ein Deutschsprachiger diese Konzepte formuliert. Vielen Dank für Alles das du machst und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!
Ja, da bist du bestimmt nicht der einzige, aber dann können die Anfänger nix mehr lernen (nicht: lehren… das ist “to teach”).
Noch 2 kleine Korrekturen:
– Ich möchte es eigentlich lieber, wenn du alles auf Deutsch erklärst.
– Vielen Dank für alles, was du machst. (nicht “das du machst”)
– Frohes neues Jahr
“Guten Rutsch” sagt man nur vor 0:00. Danach hat das Jahr ja schon angefangen :)
Alles klar, danke.
Frohes neues Jahr
Dir auch!
holy crap it takes you forever to get to the point. sorry.
After the incorrect sentence “Ich bin hinter”, you say a German would ask “Hinter was?”
Doesn’t ‘hinter’ in this case take the dative case, indicating position (hinter DEM Tisch), so shouldn’t ‘was’ be in the dative? And what is the dative of was anyway? Does it have one?
Good question… the Dative for “was” is indeed “was”… in school when German kids learn grammar we learn
– wer oder was = Nominativ
– wessen = Genitiv
– wem oder was = Dativ
– wen oder was = Akkusativ
Thanks – that makes a lot of sense!
vielen Dank what about -raus- is it like -aus- or -draussen- ????? :)
i think like -aus- :) what do you think ??? or is it something else ???
Nee… “aus” ist die Präposition
Ich gehe aus dem Haus.
“Draussen” ist der Ort.
Wo bist du? Draussen.
“Raus” ist das Ziel
Wohin gehst du? Raus.
German is awfully specific when it comes to talking about location :). Hope that helps
Great man, thanks!
Go on please…