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### The Perfect Tense of Separable Verbs

Standard verbs in the perfect tense use a helping verb and a past participle starting with **ge-** (like **klingeln** becoming **geklingelt**).

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But what happens if the verb has a separable prefix? To form the past participle of a separable verb, you simply sandwich the **-ge-** between the prefix and the main verb stem.

Just like normal verbs, separable verbs that describe a movement or a change of state use **sein** (to be) instead of **haben**. Waking up and getting out of bed is a change of state, so **aufstehen** (to get up) uses **sein**. Because its stem is irregular, its past participle is **auf** + **ge** + **standen** = **aufgestanden**.

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If the verb doesn't express motion or a change of state, it uses **haben**. For example, **aufräumen** (to clean up) is a regular verb, so it simply becomes **auf** + **ge** + **räumt** = **aufgeräumt**.

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### Departures and Arrivals

Travel verbs are almost always verbs of motion, meaning they use **sein**. **abfahren** (to depart) becomes **abgefahren**, and **ankommen** (to arrive) becomes **angekommen**.

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When traveling, you might also need to change trains (**umsteigen**). Its past participle is **umgestiegen**.

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You can specify the track or platform (**das Gleis**) where a train arrives using the preposition **auf** (on) or **an** (at).

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If things don't go according to plan, you can talk about delays. The noun **die Verspätung** means "the delay." To say a train was delayed, Germans literally say it "had delay," often using the simple past form **hatte** (had).

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### Luggage and Boarding

When picking up someone or their luggage (**das Gepäck**), you can use the separable verbs **abholen** (to pick up) or **mitbringen** (to bring along). These use **haben**, and their participles are **abgeholt** and **mitgebracht**.

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Finally, when it is time to board your vehicle before the departure (**die Abfahrt**), use **einsteigen** (to board). Since boarding is a movement, it takes **sein** and forms the participle **eingestiegen**.

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The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

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)

Separable prefix verbs

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: 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
the alarm clock	der Wecker
to ring	klingeln
The alarm clock rang early.	Der Wecker hat früh geklingelt.
When did your alarm clock ring?	Wann hat dein Wecker geklingelt?
Then we got up immediately.	Dann sind wir sofort aufgestanden.
Did you (formal) clean up the room?	Haben Sie das Zimmer aufgeräumt?
on time / punctual	pünktlich
The train departed on time.	Der Zug ist pünktlich abgefahren.
Did the bus arrive late?	Ist der Bus spät angekommen?
to change trains	umsteigen
We changed trains immediately.	Wir sind sofort umgestiegen.
Where did you (pl) change trains?	Wo seid ihr umgestiegen?
the platform / track	das Gleis
The train arrived at track four.	Der Zug ist auf Gleis vier angekommen.
the delay	die Verspätung
The train was delayed.	Der Zug hatte Verspätung.
the departure	die Abfahrt
The departure was on time.	Die Abfahrt war pünktlich.
the airport	der Flughafen
to pick up	abholen
I picked you up from the airport.	Ich habe dich vom Flughafen abgeholt.
the luggage	das Gepäck
My partner picked up the luggage.	Mein Partner hat das Gepäck abgeholt.
Did you bring the luggage from the airport?	Hast du das Gepäck vom Flughafen mitgebracht?
Was the bus delayed?	Hatte der Bus Verspätung?
I boarded at track two before the departure.	Ich bin vor der Abfahrt an Gleis zwei eingestiegen.
back (in return, backwards)	zurück
I am coming back soon.	Ich komme bald zurück.
The train is going back.	Der Zug fährt zurück.
further, on (continuing)	weiter
We are travelling on.	Wir fahren weiter.
Drive on!	Fahren Sie weiter!

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