Außer and Gegen
"Except for": The Preposition außer
To say "except for" use the preposition außer
plus dative:
| Außer mir ist niemand gekommen. |
| No one came except me. |
The Preposition gegen
The preposition gegen takes the accusative. It means against in most
cases.
| Er hatte nie etwas gegen einen guten Schnaps. |
| He never had anything against a good schnapps. |
| Deutschland hat gegen die USA Hockey gespielt. |
| Germany played hockey against the US. |
It is also used to describe treatments and medications to
counter illnesses. Here it means for.
| Nehmen Sie zwei Aspirine gegen Kopfschmerzen. |
| Take 2 aspirins for headaches. |
It is also used to state approximate clock times (short of
some preferable or appointed time)
| Kommen Sie gegen sechs Uhr. |
| Come around six o’clock. |