Most commonly spoken German prepositions take the accusative or dative case (the genitive case is used more often in the written form). Some prepositions, such as bis, durch, für, gegen, je, ohne, um and wider, take only the accusative case. Others, like aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von and zu, take only the dative case.

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There are, however, certain prepositions that can take either the accusative or the dative case, depending on the context: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen. Even experienced German speakers can get it wrong sometimes, so although you've probably learned this before, this may be a good time to review these two-way (or dual) prepositions.

The general rule to remember: if the preposition is dealing with "where" something is in a static sense, it takes the dative case; if it is dealing with motion or destination ("where to" or "what about") in an active sense, then it takes the accusative case.

Der Spiegel hängt an der Wand.

The mirror is hanging on the wall.

Caption 39, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Mehr Wechselpräpositionen

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Since the wall is where the mirror is statically hanging, the feminine noun die Wand takes the dative case in this context.

Sie geh'n an die Arbeit wieder.

They're going to work again. [They're going back to work.]

Caption 29, Der Struwwelpeter - Hans Guck-in-die-Luft

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Since work is where they are actively going to, the feminine noun die Arbeit takes the accusative case. Note that the word wieder above has an unusual placement in the sentence; this is because it is part of an old-fashioned poem and needed to rhyme!

Wie war eigentlich das Konzert auf dem Mond?

How was the concert on the moon?

Caption 8, Undertube - Peer erzählt einen Witz

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Since where they statically are is on the moon, the masculine noun der Mond takes the dative case.

Wir gehen auf die Straßen.

We're going on the streets.

Caption 34, Blumio - Rappen für gute Unterhaltung

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Since their destination is actively towards the streets, the plural feminine noun die Straßen takes the accusative case.

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Further Learning
Look on Yabla German for other examples of the two-way prepositions an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen and discover the different contexts in which they take the dative or the accusative case.

Many of you probably know the stock line Halt oder ich schieße! (Stop or I’ll shoot!) from old American and British WWII movies, but did you know there are many other ways to say “stop” in German? The German verbs halten and stoppen are easy to remember, since they have the English equivalent verbs “halt” and “stop,” but separable verbs such as aufhören and anhalten are a bit trickier! 

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Let’s first take a look at a couple of examples using the verb halten in the imperative mood, both from the classic children’s book series Der Struwwelpeter:

Halt! Das ist noch gutgegangen

Stop! That just barely turned out ok

und die Fischlein sehen's mit Bangen.

and the little fish watch it with fear.

Caption 12, Der Struwwelpeter - Hans Guck-in-die-Luft

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Robert, halt! Dein Schirm fliegt fort.

Robert, stop! Your umbrella is flying away.

Caption 11, Der Struwwelpeter - Der fliegende Robert

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Next we see the use of the verb stoppen: 

Bislang konnte das die Ausbreitung der Läden aber nicht stoppen.

So far, however, this hasn't stopped the spread of the shops.

Caption 35, Perlentee - In allen Mündern

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And even an example using both halten and stoppen in the imperative mood: 

Stopp! Stopp, stopp, stopp, stopp, stopp! Halt!

Stop! Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop! Hold on!

Caption 24, Deutschkurs in Blaubeuren - Der Relativsatz

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Note that Yabla purposefully translated halten as “hold on” in order to differentiate it from the translations of stoppen as “stop.”

Another very useful German word for “stop” is aufhören, which is a separable verb that is most commonly used when you want an activity to stop. Here in the conditional mood:

Nein, wenn wir keine Lust mehr hätten, würden wir ja aufhören.

No, if we had no more desire, yes, we would stop.

Caption 25, Die Beatles - in Deutschland

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In the imperative mood, the verb’s lexical core is separated from its particle:

Hör auf! -Du musst genau hinsehen.

Stop! -You must watch closely.

Caption 13, Filmtrailer - Wir sind die Nacht

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And here an example using the present perfect tense:

Sie hat überhaupt nicht mehr aufgehört mit Eismachen.

She just never stopped making ice cream.

Caption 6, Eis - Eiskalte Leidenschaft

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The separable verb anhalten, on the other hand, is used primarily to indicate the stopping of moving objects or vehicles: 

Ein Mann fährt mit seinem Auto.

A man is driving in his car.

Dann wird er von der Polizei angehalten.

Then he is stopped by the police.

Captions 2-3, Sabine erzählt Witze - Die Pinguine

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It is possible to confuse anhalten with the verb for “to keep” (halten) and the preposition “on” (an). Usually the context makes it obvious: 

Ihren Pfiffi sollten sie aber lieber an der kurzen Leine halten.

But you had better keep your Fifi on a short leash.

Caption 39, Für Tierfreunde - Geparden

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Another version of “stop” with a very specific context is stehen bleiben, alternately written as one word (stehenbleiben), which is when a person stops walking or running:

Das heißt, jedes Mal, wenn man ihn gefangen hat,

That means, every time you catch it,

muss man stehen bleiben.

you have to stop.

Caption 10, Ultimate Frisbee - Spielregeln

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How would you translate the following?

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Stopp, halt, hör auf mit dem Anhalten!

Note that in the above sentence, the verb anhalten has been nominalized into the noun Anhalten. Many of the alternate German words for "stop" may be translated, depending on the context, with other English synonyms for “stop,” such as “cease,” “discontinue,” “interrupt,” “turn off,” “shut down,” “finish,” “break off,” “close,” or “end.”

Learning suggestions:

When you're watching Yabla videos, see if you can spot any other German versions of “stop.” You may learn some more synonyms for “stop” here.