3.1 German Verbal Prefixes

Question 1

ab-

Answer 1

Sep.

Conveys “away”, “down”, “off”, with the idea of finishing or completing an action

Question 2

an-

Answer 2

Sep.

Conveys “at”, “on”, or the idea of starting an action or doing something partially.

Question 3

auf-

Answer 3

Sep.

Conveys “up” or the idea of a sudden start

Question 4

aus-

Answer 4

Sep.

Conveys “out” with the idea of completing an action

Question 5

bei-

Answer 5

Sep.

Question 6

ein-

Answer 6

Sep.

Derived from the preposition “in”. Conveys “in” or the idea of getting used to something

Question 7

fort-

Answer 7

Sep.

Question 8

her-

Answer 8

Sep.

Question 9

hin-

Answer 9

Sep.

Question 10

mit-

Answer 10

Sep.

Conveys “along”, “away”, or the idea of accompanying or cooperating

Question 11

nach-

Answer 11

Sep.

Question 12

um-

Answer 12

Sep.

Question 13

vor-

Answer 13

Sep.

Conveys the idea of demonstrating, going forward, or precedin

Question 14

weg-

Answer 14

Sep.

Conveys “away”

Question 15

weiter-

Answer 15

Sep.

Question 16

zurück-

Answer 16

Sep.

Conveys “back”, the idea of returning

Question 17

zusammen-

Answer 17

Sep.

Conveys “up” or “together”, the idea of reducing to a focal point

Question 18

be-

Answer 18

Insep.
1) Makes intransitive verbs or verbs with prepositional objects transitive, or shifts the action to a different object.
2) Added to nouns to create verbs with the idea of providing something. (Often -ig- is added.)3) Added to adjectives to create verbs with the idea of bestowing that quality. (Often -ig- is added.)
Note: Approximately 25% of all inseparable prefix verbs begin with be-.

Question 19

emp-

Answer 19

Insep.
A variation of ent- that is used before some verb roots beginning with f.
Ent-
1) Added to verbs to convey the idea of escaping or moving away.
2) Creates verbs from nouns, adjectives, or verbs. Indicates the removal of something.
ent- often corresponds to English un-, de- or dis-.

Question 20

ent-

Answer 20

Insep.
1) Added to verbs to convey the idea of escaping or moving away.
2) Creates verbs from nouns, adjectives, or verbs. Indicates the removal of something.
ent- often corresponds to English un-, de- or dis-.
Note: Approximately 15% of all inseparable prefix verbs begin with ent-.

Question 21

er-

Answer 21

Insep.
1) Creates verbs from nouns or other verbs. Conveys the conclusion or end achievement of an action.
2) Creates verbs from adjectives. Conveys the idea of becoming something or giving something a quality. Often adds an umlaut to the root, where possible.
Note: Approximately 10% of all inseparable prefix verbs begin with er-.

Question 22

ge-

Answer 22

Insep.
ge- is rare as a verb prefix. It carries no distinct meaning. In many instances, the root verb is linguistically extinct.

Question 23

miss-

Answer 23

Insep.
Like the English prefix mis-, the German miss- indicates failure. It creates a verb that stands as a negative opposite to its positive or neutral root.

Question 24

ver-

Answer 24

Insep.
1) Added to verbs to express idea of completion, waning, or going away.
2) Added to verbs to express the idea of doing something to excess or wrongly, or to convey the opposite meaning from its root.
3) Creates verbs from adjectives or nouns that convey the idea of becoming something or giving something a quality.
4) Creates verbs from nouns to convey the idea of providing something.
Note: Approximately 45% of all inseparable prefix verbs begin with ver-.

Question 25

zer-

Answer 25

Insep.

Creates verbs from nouns, adjectives, or other verbs to indicate destruction, usually “into pieces”.

Question 26

Separable

Answer 26

If a prefix is separable, it is the stressed part of the verb.

Question 27

Inseparable

Answer 27

If a prefix in inseparable, the verb stem is the stressed part of the verb.