German Separable & Inseparable Verbs: Master Prefixes in 77 Flashcards
Master German separable and inseparable verbs: prefixes, stress, ge- participles, zu-infinitives and word order in 77 flashcards, plus 5 cards to fix.
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German verbs love prefixes. Stehen becomes aufstehen, verstehen, entstehen. The prefix changes the meaning and decides where the verb goes in the sentence, how the participle is built and where the stress falls. Deck CD4734, German Separable & Inseparable Verbs (77 cards), drills exactly that, mostly from English prompts.
Study this deck: German Separable & Inseparable Verbs
1 / 10Inseparable prefixes in German
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
Sample cards
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| zer- (prefix) | brechen → zerbrechen (to shatter) |
| an- (prefix) | fangen → anfangen (to start); rufen → anrufen (to call) |
| You form the past participle of a separable verb | The ge- goes between the prefix and the stem: anfangen → angefangen |
| verstehen — past participle | verstanden (no ge- because ver- is inseparable) |
| A zu-infinitive with a separable verb | aufzustehen, mitzukommen |
| Umfahren — separable version | To knock something over. Ich fahre das Verkehrszeichen um. |
| Umfahren — inseparable version | To drive around something. Ich umfahre das Verkehrszeichen. |
| mitkommen — imperative (ihr) | Kommt mit! |
| Do verbs with stressed -ieren add ge-? | No: probieren → probiert |
What the deck covers
Inseparable prefixes: ver-, ge-, be-, er-, ent-/emp-, zer- (verbrauchen, verraten, gehören, gefallen, erschaffen, entnehmen, versprechen, erklären). Separable prefixes: an-, auf-, aus-, ein-, mit-, ab-, zu-, vor-, nach-, weg-, zurück-, bei-, zusammen-, nieder-, dar- (anrufen, einkaufen, abfahren, abgeben, zuhören, beibringen, zusammenarbeiten, niederlegen, darlegen). Directional hin-/her-/hinein-/hinaus-, the multi-word prefix in wiedergutmachen, dual verbs übersetzen and umfahren. Grammar: verb-second vs verb-final word order, participles (angefangen, mitgekommen, aufgestanden, zugemacht, eingekauft vs begonnen, verstanden, erklärt), zu-infinitives (aufzustehen vs zu verstehen), imperatives (Steh auf! Fangen Sie an!), present tense across all persons, stress patterns (AUFstehen vs verSTEhen).
Study it by stress
Stress is the one test that predicts everything. If the prefix is stressed, it is separable: it splits off in main clauses, takes -ge- inside (AUFgestanden) and -zu- inside (aufzustehen). If the stem is stressed, the prefix stays: no ge-, zu in front. Say every card out loud with the stress marked. Then group the dual prefixes durch-, über-, um-, unter-, wider- and add the missing pairs: durchschauen vs durchSCHAUen, UNterstellen vs unterSTELlen. The deck only drills um- and über-. Also add miss- (missverstehen, misslingen) to your list of inseparable prefixes.
Five backs to rewrite
- Card 65 tags überlegen (to consider) as separable. It's inseparable: ich überlege, überlegt. Separable ÜBERlegen means "to lay over".
- Card 67 derives gelegen from legen. It's the participle of liegen; legen gives gelegt.
- Card 75 gives anprobiert, then says "ge- between prefix and stem". It's the -ieren rule: no ge- at all.
- Card 77 says "5 common separable prefixes" and then lists 11. Fix the count.
- Card 21 translates hinauslegen as "to lie out in the sun". It means to put something outside. For sunbathing, say sich in die Sonne legen.
Cards 70 and 76 repeat cards 15 and 1, so keep one of each.
Participles here follow the patterns of strong verbs (stehen → gestanden). Learn those in German Modal & Strong Verbs.
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