Breakdown of Ich habe dich vom Flughafen abgeholt.
ich
I
haben
to have
dich
you (singular, informal)
vom
from the (von + dem) / of the (belonging to) / by the (agent in a passive clause)
der Flughafen
the airport
abholen
to pick up
Questions & Answers about Ich habe dich vom Flughafen abgeholt.
Why is there a "ge" in the middle of "abgeholt"?
The infinitive is abholen (to pick up), which is a separable verb with the prefix ab-. To form the past participle of a separable verb, the -ge- goes right between the prefix and the main verb stem. So it becomes ab + ge + holt = abgeholt.
Why is "abgeholt" at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard word order for the German past tense (Perfekt). The helping verb (here, habe) takes the second position in the sentence, while the past participle (abgeholt) is sent all the way to the end.
What exactly is "vom" short for?
vom is a combination of the preposition von (from) and the article dem (the). The preposition von always forces the following noun into the dative case. Because airport is masculine (der Flughafen), "the" changes to dem in the dative. von + dem naturally shrinks down to vom.
Why do we use "dich" instead of "du" or "dir" here?
Because "you" are the direct object of the sentence—the person being picked up! The verb abholen requires the accusative case for the person or thing you are picking up, so du changes to its accusative form, dich.
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