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Thinking, remembering, and adapting with 'an'

When learning German verbs, you will find that many require a specific preposition to connect to their object. A common group of verbs dealing with thoughts, memories, and adjustments pairs with the preposition an followed by the accusative case. English speakers often trip over this because English uses a variety of other prepositions for these concepts, such as about, of, or to, or sometimes no preposition at all.

Instead of translating the English prepositions literally, it is helpful to learn the German patterns. Let us look at how words like denken, sich erinnern, and sich gewöhnen use this pattern in everyday speech.

Word list
sich erinnernA1 to remember sich an jemanden oder etwas erinnern = to remember, to recall denkenA2 to think an jemanden oder etwas denken = to think (=to use one's brain) erinnernB1 to remind jemanden an etwas erinnern = to remind sich anpassenB1 to adapt sich an eine Situation anpassen = to adapt (=to adjust oneself to situation) sich gewöhnenB1 to get used to sich an jemanden oder etwas gewöhnen = to get used to, to get accustomed to anpassenB2 to adapt etwas an neue Bedingungen anpassen = to adapt (=to make suitable)
Memory and thought

When you use your brain to think about or recall something, German frequently uses an. The verb denken means to think, but when you want to say you are thinking about someone, you must use an with the accusative case.

Wir denken an unsere Freunde.
(We are thinking about our friends.)

Similarly, the verb sich erinnern means to remember or to recall. While English uses a direct object (you just remember a thing), German requires the reflexive pronoun plus an.

Ich erinnere mich an meinen ersten Schultag.
(I remember my first day at school.)

If you want to remind someone else of something, you drop the reflexive pronoun and use the verb erinnern, which takes a direct object. The person being reminded is the direct object, and the thing they are being reminded of is introduced by an.

Das Lied erinnert mich an meine Kindheit.
(The song reminds me of my childhood.)
Adjusting and adapting

Verbs that describe adjusting to a new situation also share this pattern. The verb sich gewöhnen means to get used to or to get accustomed to something.

Du musst dich an das kalte Wetter gewöhnen.
(You have to get used to the cold weather.)

When you adapt yourself to new surroundings, you use sich anpassen. Notice that this is a separable verb, so the prefix an goes to the end of the sentence, while the preposition an stays next to its object.

Er passt sich an die neue Situation an.
(He is adapting to the new situation.)

You can also use anpassen to talk about adapting or modifying an object to fit new conditions. Again, the condition it is being adapted to takes an.

Wir müssen den Plan an die neuen Bedingungen anpassen.
(We have to adapt the plan to the new conditions.)
Using daran for things and ideas

There is a special rule for these verbs when the object of the preposition is an inanimate thing, a concept, or a situation that you refer to as it. Instead of saying an es, German combines the words into the word daran.

Ich kann mich daran erinnern.
(I can remember it.)
Wir müssen uns daran gewöhnen.
(We have to get used to it.)

You only use daran for non-living things. If you are remembering a person, you would still use the normal preposition and pronoun, such as an ihn (about him) or an sie (about her).

Summary

When using verbs for thinking, remembering, and adapting, remember to learn their specific pattern: they pair with the preposition an and the accusative case. If you are referring to a non-human object or a situation as it, use the combined word daran instead of a regular preposition and pronoun.