Separable Verbs in German: When to Separate Them?

Anyone who’s studied German grammar knows them: separable verbs (trennbare Verben). As the name suggests, these verbs are split mid-word under certain conditions:

anfangen (to start) → ich fange an (I start)

As most languages don’t have separable verbs, they may seem bewildering and intimidating to German learners. But don’t worry: In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know to master separable verbs step by step. We’ve kept the explanations as simple as possible so you can follow them easily without any prior knowledge.

What Are Separable Verbs?

Separable verbs typically derive from “regular” verbs. They are formed by adding one or more syllables to the beginning of the verb, which creates a new word. The added syllables are called particles (Partikel), which is why separable verbs can also be referred to as particle verbs (Partikelverb).

The separable verb anfangen (to start), for example, is formed by adding the particle an (literally at) to the beginning of the verb fangen (literally to catch). A separable verb may at first glance seem like a single word, but it is actually comprised of two separate words: the verb fangen and the particle an.

As already mentioned, the particle is separated from the verb under certain conditions and then appears as an independent word in the sentence. The typical case where the particle is separated from the verb is in main clauses, but only in those in which the separable verb is in a finite verb form.

In order to understand this explanation, we first need to look at what the terms main clause and finite verb form actually mean.

What Is a Main Clause?

A main clause (Hauptsatz) is a grammatically complete sentence and can stand independently as a sentence on its own. In contrast, a subordinate clause (Nebensatz) is always dependent on another clause and therefore cannot stand alone.

The difference between main and subordinate clause should become clear through the following example sentence:

Ich gehe gerne in die Schule, weil ich dort meine Freunde sehe.
(I like to go to school because I see my friends there.)

This example sentence is a complex sentence (komplexer Satz) which consists of a main and a subordinate clause. The part before the comma – Ich gehe gerne in die Schule (I like to go to school) – is the main clause. It is grammatically complete and could also stand as an independent sentence on its own. The part after the comma – weil ich dort meine Freunde sehe (because I see my friends there) – is a subordinate clause. As a subordinate clause, it can not stand on its own, because it is dependent on the main clause.

What Is a Finite Verb Form?

In German, the verb must agree with the subject. Let’s take the present tense forms of the verb spielen (to play) as an example:

The ending of the verb depends on the grammatical person of the subject, which is why the ending is also called personal ending (Personalendung). A verb form with a personal ending is called personal verb form (Personalform) or finite verb form (finite Verbform).

But not all verb forms or verb endings mark the grammatical person. A verb form that does not contain the grammatical person is called nonfinite verb form (infinite Verbform). Examples of nonfinite verb forms are:

• the infinitive (Infinitiv): spielen (to play)
• the present participle (Partizip I): spielend (playing)
• the past participle (Partizip II): gepielt (played)

The nonfinite verb forms are used, for example, to form some of the tenses and to form the passive:

• Futur I (future): werden + infinitive (e.g. ich werde spielen – I will play)
• Perfekt (perfect): haben/sein + past participle (e.g. ich habe gespielt – I have played)
• Passiv (passive): werden + past participle (e.g. es wird gespielt – it is played)

In all these examples, the meaningful verb spielen (to play) is in a nonfinite verb form, so you can not derive the grammatical person of the subject from it. In addition to the meaningful verb, the above examples also require an auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb). The auxiliary verb doesn’t any meaning to the sentence but is needed for forming the above tenses and the passive.

The auxiliary verb, unlike the main verb, is in the personal form, so you can see that habe gespielt (have played) is first person singular not because of the meaningful verb gespielt (played) but because of the auxiliary verb habe (have).

Tenses formed by combining a nonfinite verb form with an auxiliary verb are called compound tenses (zusammengesetzte Zeitformen). However, there are also tenses that are not formed by an auxiliary verb but by attaching specific endings to the verb. An example of this is the Präteritum (past tense):

Tenses that are formed by adding specific endings are called simple tenses (einfache Zeitformen). Simple tenses consist of a single verb, which is the meaningful verb in the personal or finite form.

Separation of Particle and Verb

Separable verbs can only be split if both of the following conditions are met:

1. The separable verb appears in the finite form.
2. The separable verb appears in a main clause.

If none or only one of the conditions applies, then the particle comes before the verb and is written together with the verb as one word.

Finite Separable Verb in Main Clause

Let’s take a look at some examples:

1. aufstehen: Meine Oma steht jeden Morgen um sieben Uhr auf.
   (to get up: My grandmother gets up at seven o’clock every day.)
2. ankommen: Ich kam gestern pünktlich in Wien an.
   (to arrive: I arrived in Vienna on time yesterday.)
3. zumachen: Susi machte das Fenster zu, da ihr kalt war.
   (to close: Susi closed the window because she was cold.)
4. einladen: Wenn du willst, lade ich auch deine Eltern ein.
   (to invite: If you want, I’ll also invite your parents.)
5. ausschalten: Er schaltete den Computer aus und ging ins Bett.
   (to turn off: He turned off the computer and went to bed.)

In all of these sentences, both conditions are met, and the particle is separated from the verb. While the verb occupies the second position in the sentence, the particle is placed at the end.

Nonfinite Separable Verb

Let’s take a look at some example sentences in which the first of the two conditions doesn’t apply:

1. aufstehen: Ich werde morgen um sieben Uhr aufstehen.
   (to get up: I will get up at seven o‘clock tomorrow.)
2. ankommen: Ich bin gestern pünktlich in Wien angekommen.
   (to arrive: I arrived in Vienna on time yesterday.)
3. zumachen: Susi hatte das Fenster zugemacht. Trotzdem war ihr noch kalt.
   (to close: Susi had closed the window. However, she was still cold.)
4. einladen: Wenn du willst, kann ich auch deine Eltern einladen.
   (to invite: If you want, I can also invite your parents.)
5. ausschalten: Du musst den Computer ausschalten, bevor du ins Bett gehst.
   (to turn off: You need to turn off the computer before you go to bed.)

In all of these sentences, the separable verb is in a nonfinite verb form. Therefore, the particle is not separated from the verb. In sentences 2 and 3, it should be noted that the prefix ge, which is used to identify the past participle (Partizip II), stands between the particle and the verb. We will take a closer look at this in the next article.

Separable Verb in Subordinate Clause

And finally, a few example sentences in which the second condition isn’t met:

1. aufstehen: Obwohl sie jeden Morgen früh aufsteht, ist sie nicht müde.
   (to get up: Even though she gets up early every morning, she’s not tired.)
2. ankommen: Ich weiß nicht, ob der Zug pünktlich in Wien ankommt.
   (to arrive: I don’t know if the train will arrive in Vienna on time.)
3. zumachen: Wenn Susi das Fenster zumacht, haben wir keine frische Luft.
   (to close: If Susi closes the window, we won’t have fresh air.)
4. einladen: Es ist kein Problem, dass ich auch deine Eltern einlade.
   (to invite: It’s no problem that I’ll also invite your parents.)
5. ausschalten: Bevor er den Computer ausschaltet, speichert er das Dokument.
   (to turn off: Before he turns of the computer, he saves the document.)

Even though the separable verb in all of the above sentences is in the finite form, it’s not in the main clause. As a result, the particle is not separated from the verb.

Conclusion

When deciding whether to split the particle from the verb, you have to ask yourself the following two questions:

1. Is the separable verb in the finite form?
2. Is the separable verb in a main clause?

The particle is separated from the verb and placed at the end of the sentence only if the answer to both questions is “yes.” If the answer to one or both questions is „no,” then the particle and the verb are written together as one word.

But beware! Before asking yourself whether to separate the particle from the verb, you must first determine whether the verb is actually a separable verb. Some verbs look similar to separable verbs, even though they are not. You’ll learn how to distinguish separable verbs from other verbs in our next article.