Articles in this category deal with German prefixes and prepositions. We take one of them at a time and explore what they mean in various contexts and we’ll try to find “their soul”.
That means, we’ll try to find underlying themes that make the various uses make more sense.
Summary
In a sample chapter of my book, I explore WHY German has these verb versions with r-, her- and hin- and how they related to English.
Summary
rauf, herauf, hinauf, drauf - These types of words are very common. Today, we'll find out where they come from and how they're ACTUALLY used with German verbs.
Summary
Many separable verbs in german have a "version" with an r or dr. Like aufmachen - raufmachen for example. Understanding these r-versions is one key to fluency.
Summary
In this article, we'll explore the more abstract uses of the prefix "ab" and also look at the rare instances "ab" is used as a preposition.
Vocabulary
ab, abwärts, bergab, abmessen, die Absicht, abstecken, ablaufen, abfahren, abfliegen,
Summary
"ab" has two core themes. Today, we'll explore what they are and see how they influence the meaning of verbs with the prefix "ab-".
Vocabulary
ab, bergab, abwärts, abmachen, abgehen, ablegen, abfangen, absagen, abwarten
Summary
aus, raus, draußen and außen - they all mean "out" in German, but they're all different. Today, we'll learn what they mean and we'll look at aus as a prefix.
Vocabulary
aus, ausmachen, ausgehen, ausfallen, raus, draußen, außen, außer, äußerlich, äußern, veräußern
Summary
"aus" is German for "out". But it's not that simple because like "out" it can be used for a variety of ideas. We'll look at all of them with plenty of examples.
Vocabulary
aus, raus, ausgehen, ausmachen, ausfallen, aussehen, ausziehen, ausstellen
Summary
In part two of the article about "ent-" we'll find out where it comes from, and why it can also be about beginnings.
Vocabulary
entscheiden, antworten, entsprechen, entzünden, empfehlen, empfangen, empfinden, un-
Summary
We'll take a good look at the prefix "ent-" and see how its core theme gets modified and twisted by the various ent-verbs.
Summary
After checking out the practical meaning of "er-" in part one, today, we'll take a look at the origin and find the REAL core meaning of the prefix "er-"
Vocabulary
der Urlaub, der Urknall, der Urmensch, erlauben, erfinden, erhalten...
Summary
The Iseparable Prefix "er-" has one main underlying theme: reaching a goal. The many meanings it seems to have are just results of different types of goals.
Vocabulary
erzählen, erfahren, erlauben, ertrinken, erschlagen, erkennen, erregen, erdrücken, erleuchten
Summary
We'll take a nerdy look at the origin of German non-separable prefixes and compare them to prefix verbs across other languages like English or Russian.
Summary
In this article, we'll explore where German separable prefix verbs come from and meet their English cousin that has been hidden in plain sight.
Summary
German is famous for its prefix verbs, but many languages have them, and English is full of them. We'll find out what they all have in common across languages.
Summary
The German word "hin" means "there", but it's better to think of it as a generic marker - like #destination. And it sounds really wrong if you forget it.
Summary
A fun exercise about some of the most important German verbs and the prepositions they so desire :). Special guests: da- and wo-compounds and some really really dumb puns.
Summary
A detailed look at the German preposition "durch". We'll see what it means, when to use it and we'll collect the most important prefix verbs with "durch"
Vocabulary
durchsetzen, durchhalten, durchmachen, durcheinander, der Durchschnitt, durchdrehen
Summary
The core idea of "von" is origin. And that can manifest as a location, possession or even as cause. Or just the source of something. Today, we'll explore this.
Vocabulary
von, halten von, denken von, träumen von, abhängen von, von + location
Summary
"zu" is used for location and in the sense of "closed". It's also used for phrasings like "trying to" and it's used for "too much" and with verbs like gehören.
Summary
A thorough look at the German preposition 'zu' - what's its core idea, how does it work as a prefix and which verbs and phrases want "zu" as a preposition.
Vocabulary
zu, zugeben, zuhaben, zu sein, zugehen, zuhören, zumachen
Summary
We'll talk about all the verbs that take "auf" as a preposition and we'll see if there's some logic somewhere. Also: a few really common phrases with "drauf"
Vocabulary
warten auf, freuen auf, achten auf, drauf, drauf sein, drauf kommen, ...
Summary
The German preposition "auf" can mean "on" and "for", but also "open". And in combinations like "warten auf", it has a sense of targeting. Let's explore that.
Vocabulary
auf, aufgehen, aufmachen, aufgehen, warten auf, stehen auf, aufhaben
Summary
The core idea of "vor" is "in front" but it's used in various abstract ways as a prefix and combined with verbs. Today, we'll find out all about it.
Vocabulary
vorgehen, vorhaben, vormachen, Angst haben vor, warnen vor, vor Lachen
Summary
Two way prepositions are prepositions that can go with Accusative or Dative. And which one to use depends on what YOU want to say (and if that makes sense).
Summary
A fun ride along the prefix verbs with "mit-" in German. Definitely a bunch of verbs to bring with you to a conversation :). Mit lots of audio examples.
Vocabulary
mitnehmen, mitkommen, mitbringen, mitmachen, mitgehen, mithaben
Summary
"nach" can mean "to" and "after". Today, we'll explore the common core of this, and explore the various uses of "nach", both alone and as a prefix.
Vocabulary
nach, nachmachen, nachlaufen, nachlassen, nachgehen, nach
Summary
"weiter" means "further" and just like "further" in English, it can express the idea of "continuing" something. That's why it's a super common verb prefix.
Vocabulary
weiter, weit, soweit, weitermachen, weiterschlafen, weitergeben, weiter so, bis auf Weiteres,
Summary
In part one, we discovered the core idea of the prefix 'ver' and saw how we can bend it. Today, we'll go over the most common ver-verbs and make sense of them.
Vocabulary
verstehen, vergessen, verlieben, verführen, vergeben, vertrauen,
Summary
'ver' is the most common prefix in German and there seems to be no logic to it. In this article, we'll discover its one core meaning and what we can do with it.
Summary
A quick look at the meaning of "zwischen" and some related words, particularly "zwischendurch" and "inzwischen" and how that's different to "während".
Vocabulary
zwischen, dazwischen, inzwischen, zwischendurch, der Zwischenstop, während, derweil
Summary
'los' can be an ending. Then, it means '-less'. And it can be a prefix. Then, it expresses a sense of starting. And these two ideas are actually related.
Vocabulary
los, lose, das Los, los sein, loslassen, losgehen,
Summary
A fun look at the meaning of the "zer-" prefix and the most important verbs with it. Book coming soon, guys :)
Vocabulary
zerstreuen, zerfließen, zerspringen, zerschlagen, zerreden,
Summary
In this episode, we'll learn about the 2 meanings of "um-" and go over the most important prefix verbs together.
Vocabulary
umgehen, umfahren, umstellen, umfallen, umziehen, umschreiben
Summary
An enlightening look at the German non-separable verb prefix "be-". We'll find out how it modifies a verb and talk about the most common be-verbs.
Vocabulary
bestellen, bekommen, sich benehmen, behalten, begreifen, anbehalten, beneiden, vorbereiten, beeindrucken
Summary
A thorough look at the confusing German word "her". We'll see what it means and why and learn how to use it properly with lots of examples.
