German separable verbs.

The sentence bracket with separable verbs

In a normal main clause, the verb stem takes Position 2 and receives regular personal endings. The separable prefix unhooks completely and moves to the very end of the clause.

• Ich stehe am Morgen früh auf.I get up early in the morning.
• Der Bus fährt um acht Uhr ab.The bus departs at eight o'clock.

Separable versus inseparable prefixes

Prefixes like ab-, an-, auf-, aus-, bei-, ein-, mit-, nach-, vor-, weg-, zu-, zurück-, her-, and hin- always separate and carry main spoken stress. Prefixes like be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, and zer- never separate and remain unstressed.

• Ich kaufe am Freitag ein.I shop on Friday.
• Er verkauft das Auto heute.He is selling the car today.

Separable verbs in yes-no questions

In a yes-no question, the conjugated stem verb takes Position 1. The prefix still travels to the absolute end of the question.

• Stehst du am Montag früh auf?Do you get up early on Monday?
• Kommst du am Nachmittag mit?Are you coming along in the afternoon?

Exceptions to remember

• Verbs with inseparable prefixes like be-, ver-, or er- never split. Ich bezahle den Kaffee.
• Vowel-changing separable verbs still change their vowel for du and er. Er sieht am Abend gern fern.
• Starting a sentence with a time element still sends the prefix to the end. Heute fange ich um acht Uhr an.

Practice it in the course

This rule is chapter 21 of 31 in the A1 German course in Langvie, after German ordinal numbers and dates and before German accusative pronouns: mich, dich, ihn. In the app the chapter goes on with 8 exercises and a short spoken conversation with an AI partner, which opens with Wann stehen Sie morgens auf, und was machen Sie dann?

Choose the correct conjugated verb. Ich ___ am Morgen um sechs Uhr auf. (stehe / aufstehe / steht)

stehe. The verb stem takes Position 2 with ending -e. I get up at six o'clock in the morning.

Every A1 chapter, in course order