Intermediate German: A Grammar and Workbook

Dieses Buch gehört Martin.

This book belongs to Martin.

Past participles

Verbs with inseparable prefixes don’taddge-when forming their past

participle:

Sie hat das nicht bereut.

She hasn’t regretted it.

Paul hat gestern seinen Pass verloren.

Paul lost his passport yesterday.

Verbs with variable prefixes

There are also some prefixes which can either be separable or insepar-

able. They include:

durch- durchlassen(sep.) to let through

durchdenken(insep.) to think through

über- überkochen(sep.) to boil over

übernachten(insep.) to stay overnight

um- umfallen(sep.) to fall over

umarmen(insep.) to embrace

unter- untergehen(sep.) to sink

unterrichten(insep.) to teach

wieder- wiedersehen(sep.) to see again

wiederholen(insep.) to repeat

wider- widerspiegeln(sep.) to reflect

widersprechen(insep.) to contradict

Here are some of them in use:

Die Suppe kochte über.

The soup was boiling over.

Sie übernachteten in einem Hotel.

They stayed overnight in a hotel.

62 Unit 8: Verbs with separable and inseparable prefixes

111

2 3 4 5 6 7

8111

9

1011

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2011

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

3011

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

4011

1

2

3

41111