Formtrennbares Verb: Präteritum (Position 2) … Präfix (Ende)
Meaning and usage
In the preterite, a separable verb behaves like in the present tense: the finite verb sits in position 2 and the prefix goes to the end of the clause. So aufstehen becomes Er stand um sieben Uhr auf, and anrufen becomes Sie rief mich an. The prefix ab, an, auf, zurück and so on is written as a separate word at the end.
This pattern appears in main clauses. In a subordinate clause the verb stays together, for example ..., weil er früh aufstand. A common mistake is putting the prefix in position 2 or forgetting it, as in Er aufstand um sieben or Er rief an mich. Remember that only the verb stem changes: rufen has the stem rief, not rufte.
Examples 6
Er rief seine Mutter vom Flughafen aus an.
He called his mother up from the airport.
Er öffnete die Augen und sah mich an.
He opened his eyes and looked at me.
Er sah ihn von oben bis unten an.
He looked him up and down.
Er kam um fünf Uhr am Bahnhof an.
He arrived at the station at five.
Er kam vor einer Weile nach Hause zurück.
He came back home a while ago.
Der Zug fuhr um genau fünf Uhr ab.
The train left at exactly five o'clock.
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Gestern ich meine Mutter vom Bahnhof aus an.
Show answer
Correct answer: rief
The time word gestern requires the preterite, and anrufen is irregular: ich rief an. The prefix an stays at the end of the clause.
- gerufen This is a past participle form, but the sentence needs a finite verb in position 2.
- rufte This ending looks regular, but anrufen is a strong verb, so the preterite is rief, not rufte.
- ruft This is the present tense form, which does not fit with gestern.
In this topic: Preterite
- machte, wohnte: Stamm + -te weak verbs form the preterite with -te
- arbeitete, redete, wartete adding a linking e before -te in the preterite
- ging, kam, sah past tense of strong verbs: stem vowel changes, no -te
- brachte, dachte, kannte, wusste mixed verbs change the vowel and add -te
- konnte, musste, wollte, durfte spoken past of the modals, without umlaut
- wurde: Er wurde Arzt. became, the past of werden as a full verb
- es gab there was, there were
- Er stand früh auf. Separable verbs split in the preterite too
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.