German Verbs - German Prefixes

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

“The German Reich is a Republic, and whoever doesn’t believe it gets one in the neck.”
—Alfred Döblin (1878–1957)