Questions & Answers about Er hat das Papier weggeworfen.
Why is the past participle weggeworfen written as one word with -ge- in the middle?
The base verb is wegwerfen, which is a separable verb meaning to throw away. When forming the past participle for a separable verb, the -ge- is placed between the prefix (weg-) and the verb (-worfen), and the whole thing is written as a single word.
Why does the vowel change to 'o' in weggeworfen?
The root verb is werfen (to throw), which is a strong (irregular) verb. Strong verbs usually change their main vowel in the past tense forms. Here, the 'e' in werfen changes to an 'o' to become geworfen.
Could I say 'Er hat weggeworfen das Papier' instead?
No, German uses a bracket structure for the past tense. The helping verb (hat) takes the second position in the sentence, and the past participle (weggeworfen) must be pushed to the very end. The object (das Papier) goes between them.
Would it be wrong to say 'Er warf das Papier weg'?
It would not be grammatically wrong, as that is the simple past tense. However, for everyday spoken German, the spoken past tense (Perfekt) used in this sentence is much more natural. You will mostly see warf weg in written stories or news reports.
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