German Prefixes
This is a general view of the most important German prefixes. The example is "legen" (to lay)
Prefix | Verb | Literally | Translation |
---|---|---|---|
ab- | legen | to lay down | to lay down to abandon sth. |
an- | legen | to lay by/at | to attach sth. to dock |
auf- | legen | to lay up | to apply |
aus- | legen | to lay out | to lay sth. out |
be- | legen | to lay sth. on sth. | to overlay |
bei- | legen | to lay at/by | to add |
dar- | legen | to lay there | to point sth. out |
ein- | legen | to lay in | to inlay |
ent- | legen | dis-lay | faraway, outlying NOTE: entlegen is an adjective and not a verb! |
er- | legen | to achieve-lay | to kill/ to conclude successfully |
ge- | legen | to be laid | seated, situated, opportune NOTE: gelegen is an adjective and not a verb! |
hin- | legen | to lay there | to put down |
nach- | legen | to lay after | to put some more of sth. on |
nieder- | legen | to lay down | to put down an object / to lay down an office / to lie down also: to go to sleep |
über- | legen | to lay over | to think about sth. |
um- | legen | to lay around/over again | to allocate, also: to kill |
unter- | legen | to lay under | to put under |
ver- | legen | – | to be shy / to lose to edit (books, newspaper) |
vor- | legen | to lay previous to sth. | to bring sth. before so. |
weg- | legen | to lay away | to put away |
wider- | legen | to lay against | to disprove |
zer- | legen | to lay sth. in pieces | to dismantle |
zu- | legen | to lay to sth. | to put on / to buy something new |
zusammen- | legen | to lay together | to pool sth. |
Read more about this topic: German Verbs
Famous quotes containing the word german:
“Should the German people lay down their arms, the Soviets ... would occupy all eastern and south-eastern Europe together with the greater part of the Reich. Over all this territory, which with the Soviet Union included, would be of enormous extent, an iron curtain would at once descend.”
—Joseph Goebbels (18971945)