Separable Prefix Verbs in German

Today we are going to talk about Separable Prefix Verbs in German, and we will give some examples so you can learn more about this language.

Many German verbs change their meaning by adding prefixs, which are often preposition such as ab-, an-, auf-,aus-, bei-, ein-, mit-, vor-, or zu-.

The verbs anhaben (to wear) and aussehen (to look) are both verbs with separable (trennbar) prefixes.

That is, when used next to the subject pronoun, the prefix is separated from the verb and put at the end of the sentence or clause.

Or, better put, In the present tense and imperative, the prefix is separated from the
infinitive stem.

Examples:

🔊 Listen Ich habe einen Mantel an.  

(“I’m wearing a coat.” Or, more literally translated, “I have a coat on.”)

🔊 Listen “Was hast du an?”

 (“What are you wearing?” or “What do you have on?”)
However, when the separable-prefix verb is put at the end of the sentence, such as when used with a modal verb, the verb in question and its prefix are not separated.

🔊 Listen “Du willst einen Mantel anhaben.”

(“You want to wear a coat.”)

🔊 Listen “Willst du eine Bluse anhaben?”

(“Do you want to wear a blouse?”)

Tragen

Instead of “anhaben” the verb “tragen” is often used. The sentences from above would then be:

“Ich trage einen Mantel.” (“I’m wearing a coat.” )

“Was trägst du?” (“What are you wearing?”)

“Du willst einen Mantel tragen.” (“You want to wear a coat.”)

“Willst du eine Bluse tragen?” (“Do you want to wear a blouse?”)

The verb “tragen” has two meanings: “to wear” and “to carry”. So if someone says “Ich trage Schuhe” only the context will tell you whether the person is carrying the shoes in his hands or actually wearing them. Tragen is a different kind of irregular verb — one that not only changes at the end of the word, but also changes internally.

Notice that the vowel in tragen’s second and third-person forms changes from an a into an ä. Other verbs with similar conjugation patterns include fahren, graben, schaffen, and waschen.

Colors

Color are also another great way to describe clothes like Das rote Hemd passt gut.which means The red shirt fits well.

Read the following paragraph, try to find the words described to have a color.

Wir fahren in den Schwarzwald. Ich habe ein grünes Hemd getragen. Die Reise war lang. Es begann kälter zu werden und abzukühlen. Ich hörte Musik auf meinem braunen iPod. Ich bin schließlich eingeschlafen. Als ich aufwachte, sah ich den blauen Himmel und den weißen Schnee.

And now for the actual colors…

We hope you enjoyed our lesson today about Separable Prefix Verbs in German