59
votes
How bad does it sound in German *not* to separate separable verbs?
There are separable verbs in English, but they don't work exactly like German ones, so I'm going more by similarity of use and the effect of non-separation:
*I upsign my daughter for a class.
*My ...
- 2,960
19
votes
Accepted
Why is there a final “ein” in “Ich schlaf mit einem Messer ein”?
German has a feature, that only a very small number of languages have (English doesn't have it): Separable verbs. »Einschlafen« (to fall asleep) is such a separable verb. It is derived from »schlafen« ...
- 125k
19
votes
Accepted
When to use 'angeboten' and when to use 'bot'?
The verb is, in its infinitive form (the form you need to look it up in a dictionary):
to offer = anbieten
Like in
I want to offer you a drink.
Ich möchte dir ein Getränk anbieten.
The form for ...
- 125k
16
votes
How bad does it sound in German *not* to separate separable verbs?
Separable verbs correspond to English phrasal verbs, so I imagine getting the order wrong would sound about as bad as getting the order wrong in a phrasal verb. For English, in most cases the sentence ...
- 11.8k
14
votes
Accepted
What is the function of the »mit« in this sentence?
The translation from tatoeba is wrong or at least not 100% what it says.
The sentence could have several meanings, the most obvious one would be:
I wish I could come along.
where mit would be ...
- 3,198
12
votes
Accepted
Separable verbs: “hängt von … ab” or “hängt ab von …”
This grammar feature is called prepositional phrase in the Nachfeld, and it's not restricted to separable verbs (though it's easier to notice with separable verbs).
Basically, when you have a long ...
- 7,026
12
votes
Is there an explanation why the verb "aufhören" is derived from the verb "hören"?
Synchronic view
(Synchronic meaning: Looking at the language as it is now.)
The meanings of particle verbs are in principle independent of their verbal bases.
fallen (to fall) – ausfallen (...
- 26.5k
12
votes
How bad does it sound in German *not* to separate separable verbs?
how wrong? Would a native understand it? Is it irritating the ears of a native speaker? To what degree?
It would sound totally wrong, but we would understand it just fine. It would clearly show that ...
- 488
12
votes
How bad does it sound in German *not* to separate separable verbs?
While sounding wrong in 99% of all cases, this style can be validly (though exceptionally) used in what is called Telegrammstil, where you don't split prefixes in order to minimize word count. This ...
- 5,327
12
votes
Accepted
Why has the verb not been separated?
There are actually two different verbs durchlaufen, one separable and one non-separable, both having the same infinite form. The separable verb's meaning is more literal "to run through", ...
- 17k
11
votes
Accepted
What does the word "ab" mean?
"ab" does not have meaning of its own here. It is a separated part of the word "trägt", i.e. a form of "abtragen" (to clear away, to pay off a debt).
- 15k
10
votes
Accepted
Why is it »aus führen« and not »ausführen«?
The verb used is führen, not ausführen
In your sentence, aus belongs to von zu Hause aus, describing the place: from home.
A rough translation might be
She would lead the affairs of state from home.
...
- 1,314
10
votes
Accepted
Wie schreibt man trennbare Verben in Imperativsätzen?
The former prefix of separable verbs must always stand at the end of the clause.
Examples with the verb: abwaschen
Indikativ, Futur I (not separated):
Sebastian wird das Geschirr, das während der ...
- 125k
9
votes
Accepted
„Zusammen geführt“ oder „zusammengeführt“?
Die amtlichen deutschen Rechtschreibregeln behandeln zusammengesetzte Verben in den §§ 33 mit 35. Da es sich auf keinen Fall um eine untrennbare Zusammensetzung handelt (»Er führt zusammen« und nicht »...
- 38.8k
9
votes
Sie liegt ihm ob
Der Duden kennzeichnet die getrennte Form als veraltend oder veraltet. Das entspricht auch meinem Sprachgefühl.
Auszug aus obigem Link:
Rechtschreibung INFO
Worttrennung: ob|lie|gen
Beispiele: es ...
- 2,960
9
votes
Was bedeutet aufsinken in dem Satz unten?
Das Verb lautet nur "sinken" (das Wort "aufsinken" gibt es nicht). Es hat hier nur zwei Präpositionen gleichzeitig:
Das Boot sinkt um 100 Meter = Es ist jetzt 100 Meter tiefer als ...
- 15k
8
votes
Accepted
Why does mit not come at the end of a sentence when the verb "mitkommen" is used
Your first guess is the right one: There is no rule that the prefix has to be always at the end of the Sentence. Some other exemples:
Er ging in die Welt hinaus.
Er ging hinaus in die Welt.
Oder:
...
- 530
8
votes
Is there an explanation why the verb "aufhören" is derived from the verb "hören"?
hören
Like in English hören/hear has common etymologic roots that always meant more than a simple acoustic listening. It is also used widely in the meaning of to follow, to obey, and in German also to ...
- 70.6k
8
votes
Accepted
A genitive complement with a seeming tacit feminine noun
"Seiner" is simply the genitive case of "er". The fact that it looks like a possessive pronoun is irrelevant in this case.
(Diachronically there is probably a reason why a very ...
- 15k
7
votes
Accepted
What's the meaning of "an" in this sentence?
The verb in the German sentence is anhalten, a so called phrasal verb composed of the preposition an and the actual phrasal verb halten. If the verb gets reordered in the sentence the prepositional ...
- 86
7
votes
Accepted
Trennbare Verben: er sieht aus wie... oder er sieht wie... aus
There are constructions of varying "weight" in the language, and depending on how "weighty" a sentence part is, an exposition beyond the Verbklammer becomes more or less acceptable....
- 15k
7
votes
When to use 'angeboten' and when to use 'bot'?
That "offered" means "angeboten" is only half of the truth.
"Offered" in English can be the perfect participle, or it can be past tense.
The perfect participle of "...
- 16.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Unterschied zwischen rufen und anrufen?
The main difference is, that Anrufen always needs another person/object.
Most people will use the verb anrufen, in the meaning of to give somebody a call (via telephone), while rufen is used for ...
- 14.3k
7
votes
Warum ist "bevorstehen" trennbar?
Das Präfix ist hier "bevor". Die meisten Verben, die mit "bevor" beginnen, haben das Präfix "be", z.B. "bevormunden". Doch das Verb "bevorstehen" ist ...
- 11.8k
6
votes
What does zu...werden exactly mean?
You probably have a typo or grammatical error in that sentence. I'd assume it meant to read
Er ist mein Zuhause geworden.
which would translate as something like
He became my home.
"Zuhause" ...
- 19.8k
6
votes
Únterlegen vs. unterlégen
What you are seeing here is apparently a corner case on the journey of a verb + preposition to a prefixed verb.
Ich lege ein Kissen unter deinen Kopf.
is the verb legen plus the preposition unter. ...
- 65.6k
6
votes
Kann das Präfix eines trennbaren Verbs zusammen mit einem weiteren Satzglied ins Vorfeld gezogen werden?
Soweit mir bekannt ist, gestatten die derzeit geltenden Grammatikregel diese halbe Trennung eines trennbaren Verbes nicht. Mit »halbe Trennung« meine ich, dass nur ein Leerzeichen in das Verb ...
- 125k
6
votes
Accepted
Are there any separable German loan verbs (from English)?
As you can infer from the other answer and comments below, we would have to narrow down the definition of a loan verb.
If it were sufficient enough that the root of the verb is not of Germanic roots, ...
- 38.7k
6
votes
Accepted
»wohin« oder »wo … hin«?
I add numbers to your sentences, and omit »jetzt«:
Wo fährt das Schiff jetzt hin?
Wohin fährt das Schiff jetzt?
In (1) »hin« is not a part of the interrogative word »wo«, but a part of ...
- 125k
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