Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide, Second Edition

(Rick Simeone) #1

um- ‘around/change’


(her-)umgehen ‘to walk round’
jmdn./etw. umgehen ‘to evade sth. or sb.’
etw. um
schreiben ‘to rewrite sth.’
etw. umschreiben ‘to paraphrase sth.’


unter- ‘under, underneath/too low’


jmdn./etw. irgendwo unter*bringen ‘to put sb. up/provide accommodation for sb./
find a place for sth.’
etw. unternehmen ‘to undertake sth.’
etw. unterschreiben ‘to sign a document’
jmdn./etw. unterschätzen ‘to underestimate sb. or sth.’


There are also a number of inseparable verbs beginning with unter- which now have
only a remote connection to the meaning ‘under’, e.g. unterrichten ‘to teach/instruct’,
unterbrechen ‘to interrupt’.


voll- ‘complete/full’


voll*tanken ‘to fill up with petrol’
etw. vollbringen ‘to succeed in doing sth./accomplish sth.’


wider- ‘against’


jmdm./etw. widersprechen ‘to contradict sb. or sth.’


There are only two separable verbs beginning with wider-:


etw. widerspiegeln ‘to reflect/mirror sth.’
wider
hallen ‘to echo’


57
Verbal prefixes

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