German Separable Prefixes

Learn about separable prefixes on German Verbs

     

Need more German? Try the German courses at Udemy, the videos with subtitles and translations at Yabla German and FluentU, the audio and video lessons at GermanPod101.com, and the German Interlinear book with English translations

---

Buy German Language Tutorial as a PDF e-book! German Language Tutorial includes a vocabulary and grammar review of the German language, with German realia photos taken in Germany and Austria so you can see how the language is used in real life. The PDF e-book and 127 mp3s recorded by two native speakers (most of which are not online) are available for immediate download with FREE lifetime updates. Thank you for supporting ielanguages.com! Download the first ten pages of German Language Tutorial (including the table of contents).

Buy German Language Tutorial

---

If you'd like to download the mp3s, please purchase German Language Tutorial.

German Separable Prefixes

ab-	auf-	bei-	los-	mit-	vor-	weg-	zurück-
an-	aus-	ein-	fern-	nach-	vorbei-	zu-	zusammen-

These prefixes are added to the infinitive and change the meaning of the verb.  Kommen is to come, but ankommen is to arrive.  When conjugated, the prefix goes to the end of the sentence.   Er kommt um fünf Uhr an means "he is arriving at 5."  But Er kommt um drei Uhr means "he is coming at 3."  With modals, the infinitive goes to the end of the sentence as usual, but the prefix remains attached.  Ich will jetzt ausgehen means "I want to go out now."

Verbs with Separable Prefixes

abholen	to pick up	ausmachen	to turn off
abräumen	to clear (the table)	aussehen	to look like, appear
abtrocknen	to dry (dishes)	austragen	to deliver
abwischen	to wipe clean	auswandern	to emigrate
anfangen	to begin	ausziehen	to take off clothes
ankommen	to arrive	einkaufen	to shop
anmachen	to turn on	einladen	to invite
anrufen	to call up	einpacken	to pack up
anschauen	to look at	einschlafen	to fall asleep
ansehen	to look at, watch	einsteigen	to board
anziehen	to put on clothes	fernsehen	to watch TV
anzünden	to light (candles)	mitkommen	to come with
aufhören	to stop	mitnehmen	to take with
aufmachen	to open	vorbeikommen	to come by
aufräumen	to tidy up (clothes)	vorschlagen	to suggest
aufstehen	to get up	vorstellen	to introduce
aufwachen	to wake up	weggehen	to go away
aufwischen	to mop up	wegstellen	to put away
ausfüllen	to fill in (the blanks)	zuhören	to listen to
ausgeben	to spend	zumachen	to close
ausgehen	to go out	zurückkommen	to come back
ausleeren	to empty	zusehen	to observe

Ausgehen can also mean to be on good/bad terms with someone.

 

---