Scribd
Upload
2K views8 pages

Separable Verbs in German

Separable verbs in German consist of a main verb and a separable prefix or particle. The particle is separated from the verb and appears at the end of main clauses. Some examples of separable verbs and their particles are "absagen" (cancel) with particle "ab" and "ankommen" (arrive) with particle "an". There are exceptions for subordinate clauses, relative clauses, and clauses with "um" and "zu" where the particle remains attached. In total there are over 100 separable verb prefixes that can change the meaning of the verb.

Uploaded by

MEHAKPAL DHIMAN
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
2K views8 pages

Separable Verbs in German

Separable verbs in German consist of a main verb and a separable prefix or particle. The particle is separated from the verb and appears at the end of main clauses. Some examples of separable verbs and their particles are "absagen" (cancel) with particle "ab" and "ankommen" (arrive) with particle "an". There are exceptions for subordinate clauses, relative clauses, and clauses with "um" and "zu" where the particle remains attached. In total there are over 100 separable verb prefixes that can change the meaning of the verb.

Uploaded by

MEHAKPAL DHIMAN
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 8

Separable verbs in German (Trennbare

Verben)
One of the things that is the most surprising (and exasperating) when you
start learning German is the idea of a separable verb. We’re going to look
at what they are and how to conjugate them in more detail. They are
similar to phrasal verbs in English.

 1 Introduction to Separable Verbs


 1.1 Präsens (present)
 1.2 Präteritum (past simple)
 1.3 Imperativ (Imperative)
 1.4 The construction of the "Partizip II"
 1.5 Separable Verbs in Subordinate Clauses
 1.6 Separable Verbs in Relative Clauses
 1.7 Separable verbs in Clauses "(um)" + "zu"
 2 Separable particles
 3 The special case of particle placement
 4 Audiovisual Supplement

Introduction to Separable Verbs


For these verbs, the particle is separated and placed at the end of the
clause for simple verb tenses (as long as the clause is
not subordinate or relative).

Let´s look at the separable verb "absagen" (cancel) as an example.

The verb is formed by the particle ab and the verb sagen.

"Sagen" alone means to say, but together with the particle "ab" it
means "cancel".

Er sagt ein Konzert ab
He cancelled the concert.

As you can observe in this example, the particle "ab" is placed at the
end of the clause.
This property of separating only takes place in verb tenses that do
not have an auxiliary verb (helping verb).

In German, they are:

 Präsens
 Präteritum
 Imperativ

Präsens (present)

Person Conjugation Translation

ich sag-e [...] ab I cancel

du sag-st [...] ab you cancel

er/sie/e sag-t [...] ab he/she/it cancels


s

wir sag-en [...] ab we cancel

ihr sag-t [...] ab you cancel (speaking to a group)

sie sag-en [...] ab they cancel

Präteritum (past simple)

Person Conjugation Translation

ich sag-t-e [...] ab I cancelled

du sag-te-st [...] ab you cancelled

er/sie/e sag-t-e [...] ab he/she/it cancelled


s

wir sag-t-en [...] ab we cancelled

ihr sag-te-t [...] ab you cancelled

sie sag-t-en [...] ab they cancelled


Imperativ (Imperative)

Person Conjugation Translation

2nd person sag [...] ab cancel


singular

1st person plural sag-en wir [...] ab Let’s cancel

2nd person plural sag-t [...] ab cancel

polite form (Sie) sag-en Sie [...] ab cancel

The construction of the "Partizip II"


To make the Partizip II for the separable verb, you do the same as
you would for the "Partizip II" for verbs that are not separted and
add the particle as a prefix.

Infinitive Partizip II Translation

absagen abgesagt cancelled

aufmachen aufgemacht opened

umsteigen umgestiegen changed

zumachen zugemacht closed

Separable Verbs in Subordinate Clauses


For subordinate clauses, separable verbs behave like normal verbs,
meaning that they aren´t separate:

Sie hat erzählt, dass er ein Konzert absagt


She said that he’s cancelling a concert

Separable Verbs in Relative Clauses


In relative clauses the separable verbs do not split:

Ich schickte dir eine SMS, die nie ankam


I sent you a text that never arrived
Separable verbs in Clauses "(um)" + "zu"
Compound clauses with "(um) + zu", the separable verbs are split by
placing the preposition zu between the particle and the verb:

Es ist schwer, das Spiel wegzulegen


It’s difficult to put down this game

Separable particles
Sometimes, particles change the meaning of the verb they accompany
just slightly, other times drastically.

Separable particles are:

Separable particles

ab- durch- her- vor-


an- ein- herein- vorbei-
auf- entgegen- los- weg-
aus- entlang- mit- weiter-
auseinander fehl- nach- wieder-
- fest- über- zu-
bei- um- zurück-
dar- unter-

"ab-"

 absagen [cancel]
 abschrauben [unscrew]
 absegeln [sail away]
 abbiegen [turn]

"an-"

 anleiten [guide]
 anmelden [register]
 anrufen [call]
 anfangen [start]
 anhalten [stop]
 ankommen [arrive]
 anbieten [offer]
 anpassen [adapt]
 anschließen [connect]

"auf-"

 aufheizen [heat up]
 aufhaben [wear]
 aufstehen [to stand up]

"aus-"

 aussteigen [to get off/to exit (the bus)]


 aussehen [to look/to apear] (Ex: "She looks beautiful" NOT "She looks
at a map)"

"auseinander-"

 auseinandersetzen to deal with/to argue with]

"bei-"

 beitragen [contribute]

"dar-"

 darstellen [to represent]

"durch-"

 durchlesen [to read through]


 durchgehen [to pass through]

The particle "durch-" is sometimes not separable. For


example: durchqueren[to traverse]

"ein-"

 einsteigen [to step into/to enter (on the bus)]


 einkaufen [to go shopping]
 einschalten [to turn on]
 einladen [to invite]

It is not always separable

"entgegen-"

 entgegenstellen [to oppose]

"entlang-"

 entlangfahren [to drive along]

"fehl-"

 fehlschlagen [to backfire]

"fest-"

 festlegen [to determine]

"her-"

 herstellen [to manufacture]

"herein-"

 hereintreten [to step in]

"los-"

 losgehen [to get going]

"mit-"

 mitmachen [to participate]

"nach-"

 nacharbeiten [to rework]

"über-"

 überstreifen [to shuffle on/slip over]The particle "über" is normally not


separable. For example: überdenken [reconsider]
"um-"
 umsteigen [change (trains)]

"unter-"
 unterlegen [to place underneath]
 The particle "unter-" is sometimes not separable.

"vor-"
 vorlesen [to read aloud]
 vorsehen [to provide]

"vorbei-"
 vorbeimarschieren [to march by]

"weg-"
 wegnehmen [to take away]

"weiter-"
 weiterentwickeln [to perfect/improve]

"wieder-"
 wiedergeben [to return (something)]

It is not always separable:

 wiederholen [to repeat] (not separable)

"zu-"
 zumachen [to close]

"zurück-"
 zurückkommen [to come back]
The special case of particle placement
As we said, the separable particle of the verb is placed at the end of
the sentence:

Geht er ins Kino mit?


Is he also going to the movie theater?

But if a complement is taken for granted (it doesn’t provide new


information) in street German (although this is not correct) is placed
at the end, leaving the particle inside the sentence so that we hear:

Geht er mit ins Kino?


Is he also going to the movie theater?

You might also like