Ich schneide den Ast ab.

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Breakdown of Ich schneide den Ast ab.

• den: the; (masculine, accusative)
• der Ast: the branch
• abschneiden: to cut off

Questions & Answers about Ich schneide den Ast ab.

Why is ab at the end of the sentence?

Because abschneiden is a separable verb.

The full verb is abschneiden. In a normal main clause, German splits this kind of verb into two parts:

• the main conjugated part goes in the usual verb position: schneide
• the prefix goes to the end: ab

So:

• Ich schneide den Ast ab.

But in the infinitive, it stays together:

• abschneiden

This is very common in German:

• anrufen → Ich rufe dich an.
• aufstehen → Ich stehe auf.

What is the full dictionary form of schneide ... ab?

The dictionary form is abschneiden.

In this sentence:

• ich = subject
• schneide = the conjugated form
• ab = the separable prefix

So if you look this verb up in a dictionary, you would look for abschneiden, not just schneiden.

Why is it den Ast and not der Ast?