{"id":8385,"date":"2017-05-10T19:33:18","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T19:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=8385"},"modified":"2017-05-10T19:33:18","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T19:33:18","slug":"separable-and-inseparable-german-prefixes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/separable-and-inseparable-german-prefixes\/","title":{"rendered":"Separable And Inseparable German Prefixes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wrote a post recently about verbs that change their meanings when you add prefixes to them. These can be very confusing for language learners, as they think they recognise a verb when it actually means something totally different. The post led to a question about whether a particular prefix made the verb separable or inseparable. I thought it’d be good to re-cap German prefixes so you know which prefixes are separable (trennbar) and which ones are inseparable (untrennbar).<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s recap what \u2018separable\u2019 and \u2018inseparable\u2019 prefixes are.<\/p>\n

\"Broken<\/a>

In German, some verbs separate when put into a sentence, and some don’t. Photo by ralf_st on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-ND 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

A separable prefix<\/em> is one where the prefix separates from the verb when put into a sentence. Take the verb aufh\u00f6ren<\/strong> – to stop (auf + h\u00f6ren). When this verb is in a sentence, you\u2019d say H\u00f6r mit diese Bl\u00f6dheit auf<\/strong> – Stop (with) this stupidity<\/strong>. \u2018Auf\u2019 is a separable prefix and \u2018aufh\u00f6ren\u2019 is a separable verb.<\/p>\n

An inseparable prefix<\/em> is one where the prefix remains fixed to the verb when put into a sentence. Take the example verb zerst\u00f6ren<\/strong> (zer + st\u00f6ren). In a sentence, you would write the whole verb. To quote the Rammstein song, Ich muss zerst\u00f6ren<\/strong> – I need to destroy<\/strong>. \u2018Zer\u2019 is an inseparable prefix and zerst\u00f6ren is an inseparable verb.<\/p>\n

Now you know what separable and inseparable prefixes are, here is a list of all of the separable and inseparable prefixes, with example verbs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

INSEPARABLE (UNTRENNBAR)<\/h1>\n

be-<\/strong>
\nbesuchen – to visit (be + suchen, where suchen on its own means ‘to search’)<\/p>\n

emp-<\/strong>
\nempfehlen – to recommend (emp + fehlen, where fehlen on its own means ‘to lack’)<\/p>\n

ent-<\/strong>
\nentdecken – to discover (ent + decken, where decken on its own means ‘to cover’)<\/p>\n

ge-<\/strong>
\ngefallen – to be pleasing (ge + fallen, where fallen on its own means ‘to fall’. This prefix is usually used in the past participle, or completely changes the root verb when added to it)<\/p>\n

er-<\/strong>
\nertrinken – to drown (er + trinken, where trinken on its own means ‘to drink’)<\/p>\n

miss-<\/strong>
\nmissbrauchen – to abuse (miss + brauchen, where brauchen on its own means ‘to need’)<\/p>\n

ver-<\/strong>
\nverstehen – to understand (ver + stehen, where stehen on its own means ‘to stand’)<\/p>\n

wider-<\/strong>
\nwiderstehen – to resist (wider + stehen, where stehen on its own means ‘to stand’)<\/p>\n

zer-<\/strong>
\nzerst\u00f6ren – to destroy (zer + st\u00f6ren, where st\u00f6ren on its own means ‘to disturb’)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SEPARABLE (TRENNBAR)<\/h1>\n

ab-<\/strong>
\nabnehmen (to remove\/take off) “Ich nehme<\/strong> es ab<\/strong>” (I take it off)<\/p>\n

an-<\/strong>
\nanschauen (to look at) “Ich schaue<\/strong> es an<\/strong>” (I look at it)<\/p>\n

auf-<\/strong>
\naufmachen (to open) “Ich mache<\/strong> es auf<\/strong>” (I open it)<\/p>\n

aus-<\/strong>
\nausschalten (to switch off) “Ich schalte<\/strong> das Licht aus<\/strong>” (I turn the light off)<\/p>\n

bei-<\/strong>
\nbeitreten (to join) “Ich trete<\/strong> bei<\/strong>” (I join)<\/p>\n

mit-<\/strong>
\nmitmachen (to join in) “Ich mache mit<\/strong>” (I join in)<\/p>\n

nach-<\/strong>
\nnachdenken (to think about) “Ich denke <\/strong>dar\u00fcber nach<\/strong>” (I think about it)<\/p>\n

weg-<\/strong>
\nwegnehmen (to take away) “Ich nehme<\/strong> es weg<\/strong>” (I take it away)<\/p>\n

zusammen-<\/strong>
\nzusammenpassen (to fit together\/be suited) “Wir passen<\/strong> gut zusammen<\/strong>” (We suit each other)<\/p>\n

zur\u00fcck-<\/strong>
\nzur\u00fcckgehen (to go back) “Wir gehen zur\u00fcck<\/strong>” (We go back)<\/p>\n

statt-<\/strong>
\nstattfinden (to take place) “Es findet<\/strong> hier statt<\/strong>” (It takes place here)<\/p>\n

vor-<\/strong>
\nvorschlagen (to suggest\/propose) “Ich schlag <\/strong>dir was vor<\/strong>” (I suggest something to you)<\/p>\n

zu-<\/strong>
\nzunehmen (to increase\/gain weight) “Ich nehme zu<\/strong>” (I am gaining weight)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I hope this will help you to recognise separable and inseparable verbs\/prefixes. Any questions or comments, let me know!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bis bald,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Constanze<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

I wrote a post recently about verbs that change their meanings when you add prefixes to them. These can be very confusing for language learners, as they think they recognise a verb when it actually means something totally different. The post led to a question about whether a particular prefix made the verb separable or…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":8391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[11971,8],"tags":[238375,12133,95131,6,376023,2418,238376,503859,166],"class_list":["post-8385","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar-language","category-language","tag-dividable-verbs","tag-german-grammar","tag-german-language","tag-grammar","tag-language","tag-prefix","tag-trennbare-verben","tag-untrennbare-verben","tag-verbs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t