Breakdown of Der Wagen fährt am Haus vorbei.
das Haus
the house
fahren
to drive, to travel
an
at, on (vertical) / to (addressee) / of (in quantity/stock expressions)
vorbei
past
der Wagen
the car (formal, vehicle)
Questions & Answers about Der Wagen fährt am Haus vorbei.
Why is it am Haus instead of an das Haus?
The phrase for driving or walking 'past' something is an ... vorbei. This specific two-part preposition always requires the dative case. Since Haus is a neuter noun, the dative article is dem. The preposition an and the article dem merge to form am.
Why is vorbei at the very end of the sentence?
In German, two-part prepositions (circumpositions) like an ... vorbei wrap around the noun phrase they modify. The first part (an) goes right before the noun, and the second part (vorbei) gets pushed to the end of the clause, acting a bit like a separable verb prefix.
Is there a difference between Wagen and Auto here?
They are mostly interchangeable. Auto is the standard everyday word for car, while Wagen can sound slightly more formal or refer to a slightly larger vehicle, as it originally meant carriage or wagon. Both are perfectly fine to use for a typical car.
Can I change the word order and put vorbei before am Haus?
Yes, in spoken German you will sometimes hear people say Der Wagen fährt vorbei am Haus. However, wrapping the preposition around the noun to make am Haus vorbei is the standard and most grammatically typical way to use this two-part structure.
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