German Grammar Explained /
Inseparable verbs
In German, there are some verbs with prefixes that are separated when you conjugate them. But just because a verb has a prefix, this doesn’t necessarily make it a separable verb! Let’s look at a couple of examples.
separable | inseparable |
aufstehen
to get up | verstehen
to understand |
einkaufen
to shop (for food) | erklären
to explain |
A good way to distinguish whether a verb is separable or inseparable is to pay attention to where the stress in the infinitive is placed.
separable | inseparable |
AUFstehen | verSTEhen |
EINkaufen | erKLÄren |
REMEMBER!
Separable verbs are stressed in the first syllable, just like the word "separable", inseparable verbs are stressed in the second syllable, just like the word "inseparable".