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".