What is a Separable and Inseparable Verb in German?
A separable verb in German is a verb with a German prefix. A prefix is an additional word such as an (on, to, by) or ein (on) which is added to the beginning of a verb to change its meaning.
For example: anschauen, einkaufen, umziehen
An inseparable verb follows the same pattern. Only certain prefixes make the verb inseparable.
For example: bekommen, entdecken, vergessen
The different prefixes:
There are many words that can be added to a verb to change its meaning and result in a German separable or inseparable verb.
The separable prefixes are:
ab-, an-, auf-, aus-, bei-, durch-, ein-, los-, mit-, nach-, her-, hin-, um-, vor-, weg-, zu-, zurück-
The inseparable prefixes are:
be-, ent-, er-, ge-, hinter-, miss-, über-, ver-, zer-
For more information on separable and inseparable verbs and the sentence structure of them read our first blog about German Separable Verbs and Verb Prefixes.