Just as you should generally memorize the article (der, die, or das) along with each German noun that you learn, it is a good idea to pay attention to which preposition follows any given verb. This may sometimes match the English preposition — for example, Danke für das Essen and "Thank you for the food." However, there are many examples in which the preposition will not be what you would expect based on your knowledge of English. Here are some common examples:

The verb warten ("to wait") is followed by the preposition auf rather than the preposition für. The verb vorbereiten ("to prepare") may be followed by für when it refers to preparing something for a person, such as a meal. However, it is followed by auf in the context of preparing for an event.

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Jetzt warte ich auf den nächsten Gang.

Now I am waiting for the next course.

Caption 28, Abendessen - mit Marko

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Ja, und bis dahin werde ich mich auf das Studium vorbereiten.

Yes, and until then I'll be preparing myself for my studies.

Caption 24, Konstantin - ein Freiwilliger in Israel

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In English, we say "I'm interested in politics." In German, the preposition für is used with the reflexive verb sich interessieren. 

Also, ich interessiere mich grade sehr für das Thema Bachelorarbeit.

Well, I'm very interested in the topic of my Bachelor's thesis at the moment.

Caption 49, Geoökologie - Cettina interviewt Sarah

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While you congratulate someone on something in English, the German verb gratulieren requires the preposition zu and the dative case. 

Einer der Träume ist sicher

One of the dreams is certainly

Frauen und Herren bei Weltmeisterschaften zum WM-Titel zu gratulieren.

to congratulate the women and the men at the World Championships on the World Championship title.

Captions 51-52, Frauenfußball-WM - Der Bundespräsident am Ball

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In English we have sympathy for someone, whereas in German the preposition mit is used. 

Der Jäger hatte Mitleid mit ihr und Schneewittchen lief in den Wald hinein.

The Hunter had sympathy for her and Snow White ran into the forest.

Caption 32, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Schneewittchen

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In another instance where the preposition is not what you would necessarily expect, the German verb for "to participate in" is an etwas teilnehmen.

Ab welchem Alter darf man in Deutschland an der Wahl zum Deutschen Bundestag teilnehmen?

Starting at what age are you allowed to participate in parliamentary elections in Germany?

Caption 14, Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Einbürgerungstest

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Further Learning
We will be back with more verb/preposition false friends from time to time and point out common examples to be aware of. In the meantime, you can look at this previous newsletter, which also mentioned this tricky topic. However, the best way to get used to these inconsistencies is by watching videos on Yabla German! As you do, you will take note of phrases that employ a given verb with its correct preposition, which you can then implement when you speak.

When we describe events in the past, we often use temporal adverbs to give a more specific sense of what exact time period we are talking about. Are we talking about events of yesterday or something that happened thirty years ago? In the German language, both the present perfect and the preterite tenses indicate a finished action or state, but more information is often required for clarity's sake.

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Generally, when we see in der Vergangenheit ("in the past") we know that it is not a matter of something that occurred in the recent past, but rather a long time ago.

Aus meiner Sicht: Ich fühle mich nicht schuldig für das, was in der Vergangenheit geschehen ist.

From my point of view, I don't feel guilty for that which happened in the past.

Caption 10, Konstantin - ein Freiwilliger in Israel

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We can also use damals and früher to indicate that something happened in the past. Both of these temporal adverbs indicate an action or state that has been concluded for a while. They can be translated as "back then" or "previously." 

Früher haben hier die amerikanischen Soldaten gewohnt.

Previously, the American soldiers lived here.

Caption 6, Berlin - der alte amerikanische Sektor

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Damals schwor ich mir, dass mir das nicht wieder passieren sollte.

Back then I swore that something like that wouldn't happen to me again.

Caption 49, TEDx - Der Supermarkt der Zukunft

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Internet? Was ist das? Das kannten wir damals gar nicht.

Internet? What is that? We didn't know that at all back then.

Caption 35, Mittelalterlicher Markt - Mäuseroulette

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Sometimes, we want to emphasize that a state was constant or an action was repeated multiple times in the past. For this, we often use the phrase "used to" in English. Below, you can see how the word früher can function in a similar way in various contexts:

Weißt du noch, wie's früher war?

Do you still remember how it used to be?

Caption 8, Christina Stürmer - Wir leben den Moment

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Und du tanzt nich' mehr wie früher

And you don't dance like you used to anymore

Caption 4, AnnenMayKantereit - 21, 22, 23

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Ich ging früher im Urlaub immer reiten.

I used to always go horseback riding during vacation.

Caption 16, Konjugation - Das Verb „gehen“

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Further Learning
You can search for more examples with früher and damals on Yabla German or take a look at this website for a more extensive list of different types of adverbs. 

A cognate is a word that has its origins in a word from another language, and there are many verbs in German that have their roots in the English language. Some of these German verbs have in common the fact that they end with -ieren, are usually weak verbs, and usually do not use the prefix ge- in the past participle.

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Many English verbs that end in consonants can be turned into German verbs by adding the suffix -ieren, such as "to profit":
 

Davon profitieren wir jetzt natürlich.

We're profiting from this, of course.

Caption 2, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 3: Papa ist weg

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Sometimes you drop a "y" from an English verb and add -ieren to make it German, such as "to study": 
 

Ab dem Wintersemester möchte ich nämlich Medizin studieren.

Namely starting in the winter semester, I would like to study medicine.

Caption 23, Konstantin - ein Freiwilliger in Israel

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Many English verbs ending in -ize can simply take the German -isieren ending, such as "to organize": 
 

Vor jedem Event muss man alles organisieren.

Before every event one has to organize everything.

Caption 37, Traumberuf - Windsurfer

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Further Learning
Take a few English verbs such as to alarm, to dominate, to export, to exist, to modernize, to probe, to reserve, and to ventilate, and see if you can construct German verbs from them based on the ideas above, then go to German Yabla and find the words used in a real world context.