Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Separable prefix verbs

Many German verbs are made of two parts: a short prefix and a base verb. These are called **separable prefix verbs** (*trennbare Verben*).

For example, taking the base verb **kaufen** (to buy) and adding the prefix **ein-** gives you a new verb with a slightly different meaning: **einkaufen** (to shop).

{{item:863961}}

### The sentence bracket

When you use a separable verb in a main clause, the verb splits in two. The conjugated base verb takes the **second position**, and the prefix moves to the **very end** of the sentence.

{{item:863962}}

{{item:863965}}

{{item:863968}}

### Asking questions

Just like with regular verbs, questions change the position of the conjugated verb, but the prefix stays at the end.

In a question with a question word (like *wann*, *wo*, or *wie*), the conjugated base verb stays in the second position.

{{item:863963}}

In a yes/no question, the conjugated base verb moves to the **first position**.

{{item:863966}}

### Common prefixes

There are many common separable prefixes in German, such as **fern-** (far), **mit-** (with/along), **ab-** (away/off), and **aus-** (out). No matter the verb, conjugate the base verb normally and send the prefix to the end!

{{item:863972}}

{{item:863974}}

{{item:863978}}

{{item:863989}}

Separable prefix verbs

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
to shop	einkaufen
I am shopping a lot today.	Ich kaufe heute viel ein.
When do you shop?	Wann kaufst du ein?
to call (by phone)	anrufen
I will call you tomorrow.	Ich rufe dich morgen an.
Are you calling the doctor?	Rufst du den Arzt an?
to clean up / to tidy	aufräumen
We are tidying up the room.	Wir räumen das Zimmer auf.
He is not tidying up the kitchen.	Er räumt die Küche nicht auf.
to watch TV	fernsehen
Do you watch TV often?	Siehst du oft fern?
In the evenings, we watch TV together.	Abends sehen wir zusammen fern.
to bring along	mitbringen
Are you bringing the wine?	Bringst du den Wein mit?
I am bringing my partner.	Ich bringe meinen Partner mit.
to depart	abfahren
When does the train depart?	Wann fährt der Zug ab?
The bus is departing now.	Der Bus fährt jetzt ab.
to arrive	ankommen
The train arrives tomorrow.	Der Zug kommt morgen an.
Are you arriving today?	Kommt ihr heute an?
to invite	einladen
I am inviting you.	Ich lade dich ein.
We are inviting the family.	Wir laden die Familie ein.
to start	anfangen
When does the concert start?	Wann fängt das Konzert an?
The movie is starting now.	Der Film fängt jetzt an.
to look (appear)	aussehen
You look good today.	Du siehst heute gut aus.
The house looks beautiful.	Das Haus sieht schön aus.
to open (everyday: mach auf!)	aufmachen
I am opening the bag.	Ich mache die Tasche auf.
Open the book!	Mach das Buch auf!
to shut (everyday: mach zu!)	zumachen
I am shutting the bag.	Ich mache die Tasche zu.
We are shutting the suitcase.	Wir machen den Koffer zu.
to turn on (a device)	anmachen
I am turning on the radio.	Ich mache das Radio an.
Please turn on the music!	Mach bitte die Musik an!
to turn off (a device)	ausmachen
I am turning off the radio.	Ich mache das Radio aus.
Turn off the phone!	Mach das Handy aus!
to wake up	aufwachen
I wake up early.	Ich wache früh auf.
When do you wake up?	Wann wachst du auf?

Contributors