aan

The preposition aan is one of the most common words in Dutch. At Level 1, you should become confident with these primary uses:

1. Attachment and Suspension: Use aan if something is fixed to or hanging from a surface. This applies to vertical walls (aan de muur) and horizontal ceilings (aan het plafond). In contrast, op is for things resting on top of a surface.

2. Edges and Water-side Locations: Use aan when you are at the border of something, like a table (aan tafel) or water. It is used for addresses on canals, dikes, or the coast.

3. Clothing and Accessories: To say you are wearing clothes you pull on or step into (like coats, shirts, or trousers), use aan with the verb hebben. You also use it with separable verbs like aandoen or aantrekken (to put on). Note that items for the head or nose (hats, glasses) use op instead.

4. External Pain: When you have a physical ache in an external body part or a limb, Dutch uses aan. For example: Ik heb pijn aan mijn voet (My foot hurts). Note that internal pain usually uses in (pijn in mijn buik) or compound words like hoofdpijn.

5. Fixed Verb Combinations: Some verbs always use aan. A very common one is denken aan (to think of/about).

6. Directions: Aan is used for fixed positions relative to the speaker, specifically aan de linkerkant (on the left side) and aan de rechterkant (on the right side).

7. Indirect Objects (To): Use aan to show who is receiving something, similar to 'to' in English. Example: Ik geef een cadeau aan hem.

8. Functional State (On): Aan indicates that a light or machine is functioning. Its opposite is uit (off). Example: De radio staat aan.

9. Continuous Aspect (Doing): One of the most important uses is the aan het + infinitive construction. This is how Dutch expresses that someone is currently in the middle of doing something. Example: Ik ben aan het werken (I am working).

Time and Communication:
Use aan het begin and aan het einde: Aan het begin van de les praten we (At the start of the lesson we talk). Someone speaking on the phone is aan de telefoon: Zij is aan de telefoon.

Street Addresses:
In, op and aan can all occur with street names. For example, in de Dorpsstraat and aan de Dorpsstraat are possible; local usage and the intended relation matter. Aan is also common with names ending in -weg, -laan, -gracht or -kade. Do not restrict aan to addresses beside water.