Separable verbs are everywhere in everyday German — you cannot order a coffee, make a phone call, or describe your morning without them. This page is a working reference to the ones you will use most, grouped by prefix so you can see the patterns. For each verb you get its meaning, its past participle, and — crucially — whether it forms the Perfekt with haben or sein, the single detail learners most often get wrong.
How to read this reference
A separable verb is a base verb plus a stressed prefix: an + rufen = anrufen (to call). In the dictionary and the infinitive it is written as one solid word. But in a main clause the prefix breaks off and lands at the very end of the sentence, while the conjugated base verb stays in second position.
Ich rufe dich morgen an.
I'll call you tomorrow.
Wir kaufen am Samstag für die ganze Woche ein.
We shop for the whole week on Saturday.
Notice how everything important — dich morgen, am Samstag für die ganze Woche — sits between the verb and its prefix. German speakers happily wait until the last word to find out what the verb actually was. This is the famous "sentence bracket" (Satzklammer), and the separable prefix is its closing edge.
The auxiliary insight: the prefix doesn't override the base verb's logic
Here is the point most references skip. Whether a separable verb takes haben or sein in the Perfekt is decided by exactly the same logic as any other verb: verbs of motion-to-a-new-place and verbs describing a change of state take sein; transitive verbs (those with a direct object) and most others take haben.
The prefix doesn't change this — it usually reinforces it. ankommen (to arrive) is built on kommen, a motion verb, so it takes sein: ist angekommen. anrufen (to call) is transitive — you call someone — so it takes haben: hat angerufen. The prefix often just makes the verb's category more obvious.
Der Zug ist pünktlich angekommen.
The train arrived on time.
Ich habe gestern dreimal angerufen.
I called three times yesterday.
For English speakers this is the trap, because English uses have for everything: I have arrived, I have called. German splits these into two auxiliaries, and the separable verbs are where the split bites hardest, because so many of them describe getting up, coming along, arriving, and leaving — all motion. See the dedicated haben vs sein page for the full rule.
The participle: -ge- goes in the middle
Separable verbs build their past participle by inserting -ge- between the prefix and the base participle: auf + ge + standen = aufgestanden. The prefix never lets go, and the -ge- tucks in behind it.
Heute bin ich schon um sechs Uhr aufgestanden.
Today I got up at six o'clock already.
Sie hat im Supermarkt eingekauft.
She did the shopping at the supermarket.
Watch the spelling: it is angerufen (not angeruft — rufen is strong), eingekauft (weak), aufgestanden (strong). The base verb keeps its own participle; the prefix and -ge- just clip onto the front.
Verbs of getting up, coming, and going (mostly sein)
These are the high-frequency motion and change-of-state verbs. Almost all take sein.
| Infinitive | Meaning | Perfekt |
|---|---|---|
| aufstehen | to get up, stand up | ist aufgestanden |
| ankommen | to arrive | ist angekommen |
| mitkommen | to come along | ist mitgekommen |
| abfahren | to depart, set off | ist abgefahren |
| umsteigen | to change (trains, buses) | ist umgestiegen |
| zurückkommen | to come back, return | ist zurückgekommen |
| weggehen | to go away, leave | ist weggegangen |
Wir sind in Köln umgestiegen und dann weitergefahren.
We changed trains in Cologne and then carried on.
Kommst du heute Abend mit?
Are you coming along this evening?
Verbs with an object (haben)
These all have a direct object — you call someone, invite someone, pick up something — so they take haben.
| Infinitive | Meaning | Perfekt |
|---|---|---|
| anrufen | to call (on the phone) | hat angerufen |
| einkaufen | to shop, buy groceries | hat eingekauft |
| einladen | to invite | hat eingeladen |
| abholen | to pick up, collect | hat abgeholt |
| mitbringen | to bring along | hat mitgebracht |
| aufmachen | to open | hat aufgemacht |
| zumachen | to close, shut | hat zugemacht |
| vorhaben | to plan, have planned | hat vorgehabt |
Ich hole dich um acht vom Bahnhof ab.
I'll pick you up from the station at eight.
Mach bitte das Fenster zu, mir ist kalt.
Please close the window, I'm cold.
Was hast du am Wochenende vor?
What are you planning for the weekend?
Note that vorhaben is built on haben itself, so its participle is the irregular vorgehabt. And mitbringen keeps the irregular participle of bringen: mitgebracht, not mitgebringt.
Starting, stopping, and watching (haben)
| Infinitive | Meaning | Perfekt |
|---|---|---|
| anfangen | to begin, start | hat angefangen |
| aufhören | to stop, quit | hat aufgehört |
| fernsehen | to watch TV | hat ferngesehen |
Der Film hat schon angefangen, beeil dich!
The film has already started, hurry up!
Hör endlich auf, das nervt.
Stop it already, that's annoying.
Gestern Abend haben wir nur ferngesehen.
Last night we just watched TV.
A subtle one: fernsehen has the prefix fern-, and the participle is ferngesehen. Even though fern feels like an adverb ("far"), it behaves as a separable prefix here, splitting off in main clauses: Ich sehe gern fern (I like watching TV).
Common Mistakes
The errors below are the ones English speakers make again and again. Each has a clear cause rooted in how English works differently.
❌ Ich habe um sechs Uhr aufgestanden.
Incorrect — aufstehen is a motion/change-of-state verb and takes sein, not haben. English 'have got up' misleads you.
✅ Ich bin um sechs Uhr aufgestanden.
I got up at six o'clock.
❌ Der Zug hat pünktlich angekommen.
Incorrect — ankommen is built on kommen (motion), so it takes sein.
✅ Der Zug ist pünktlich angekommen.
The train arrived on time.
❌ Ich anrufe dich morgen.
Incorrect — the prefix must split off and go to the end in a main clause; you can't keep it fused.
✅ Ich rufe dich morgen an.
I'll call you tomorrow.
❌ Sie hat eingekauft Brot und Milch.
Incorrect — word order. The objects go inside the bracket; the participle stays at the very end.
✅ Sie hat Brot und Milch eingekauft.
She bought bread and milk.
❌ Wir haben in Köln umgestiegen.
Incorrect — umsteigen describes a change of position (motion), so it takes sein: ist umgestiegen.
✅ Wir sind in Köln umgestiegen.
We changed trains in Cologne.
Key Takeaways
- The prefix separates in main clauses and goes to the end; it re-fuses in subordinate clauses and in the infinitive.
- The participle inserts -ge- between the prefix and the base: angerufen, eingekauft, aufgestanden.
- The Perfekt auxiliary follows the base verb's logic: motion and change of state take sein (ist angekommen, ist aufgestanden), transitive and most others take haben (hat angerufen, hat eingekauft).
- When in doubt about the auxiliary, ask "does this verb move me to a new place or describe me becoming something new?" If yes, it's sein.
Now practice German
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- Separable Verbs: How They SplitA2 — How German separable verbs detach their stressed prefix and send it to the end of a main clause.
- Participles of Separable and Inseparable VerbsB1 — Where the -ge- goes when a verb has a prefix: inside separable verbs, and nowhere in inseparable ones — predicted perfectly by stress.
- Perfekt Auxiliary: haben vs seinA2 — How to choose between haben and sein in the German Perfekt — motion and change of state take sein, and a direct object flips it to haben.
- aufstehen: Full Conjugation and UsageA2 — Complete conjugation of the separable verb aufstehen 'to get up/stand up' across every tense and mood, with its sein auxiliary, intransitive use, idioms, and the errors English speakers make.
- anrufen: Full Conjugation and UsageA2 — Complete conjugation of the separable verb anrufen 'to call/phone' across every tense and mood, with usage notes, the accusative object, the telefonieren contrast, and the errors English speakers make.
- Separable Verb ErrorsB1 — The four classic separable-verb mistakes — not splitting the prefix, wrong participle, misplaced zu, and wrong auxiliary — all trace back to one idea: the verb wraps around the clause.