Verb Prefixes - General meanings

Question 1

an-

Answer 1

to/from

separable

Question 2

auf-

Answer 2

up/on

separable

Question 3

aus-

Answer 3

out/from

separable

Question 4

ein-

Answer 4

in/down

separable

Question 5

mit-

Answer 5

with

separable

Question 6

nach-

Answer 6

after/”re-“

separable

Question 7

zu-

Answer 7

to

separable

Question 8

be-

Answer 8

makes verb take a direct object:

kommen - to come
bekommen - to receive

sprechen - to speak
besprechen - to discuss

(inseparable)

Question 9

emp-

Answer 9

has an aspect of feeling/perception to it:

finden - to find
empfinden - to feel, perceive

(inseparable)

Question 10

ent-

Answer 10

usually makes the verb do the opposite of its stem:

arten - to develop, become
entarten - to degenerate
werten - to evaluate
entwerten - to void

(inseparable)

Question 11

er-

Answer 11

Sometimes like “re-,” other times signals completion of an event.

kennen - to know
erkennen - to recognize
schießen - to shoot
erschießen - to shoot dead

(inseparable)

Question 12

ge-

Answer 12

Doesn’t have a consistent translation.

This easily tricks people into thinking it’s a past participle. Where it is, there will be an auxiliary verb (sein, haben, werden). If not, it’s a prefix.

(inseparable)

Question 13

miss-

Answer 13

Similar to English “mis-“

brauchen - to need
missbrauchen - to misuse
trauen - to trust
misstrauen - to mistrust

(inseparable)

Question 14

ver-

Answer 14

often causes verb to do opposite of its stem:

kaufen - to buy
verkaufen - to sell

(inseparable)

Question 15

zer-

Answer 15

usually carries a connotation of destruction.

beißen - to bite
zerbeißen - to bite in two

(inseparable)