nachfragen

(nach verb)

Meanings

1.
to ask, to ask again
(very similar to "fragen" but mostly used in context of asking in an official context, or at least people you don't know)

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German Prepositions Explained - "nach"

"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.

Vocab:

nach, nachmachen, nachlaufen, nachlassen, nachgehen, nach


Word Family tap to show/hide

Root: *prek-

The core idea of this root was:

asking, pleading

The German fragen is on the more neutral side, as are the Slavic children of this root which are also about asking. The English to pray shifted toward a very “intense” and specific pleading.
German forschen (to do research) is more proactive, but at the core of it is also a question.

The Latin branch shifted a bit toward the idea of depending on the will of someone else. In English, this then shifted toward uncertain, risky, dangerous That’s where precarious and deprecate are from.

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