Go to the homepage of our German Course Chapter 10: Daily Life University of Portsmouth
10.12 Compound verbs

Types of compound verb
We have already seen in Chapter 6 how simple German verbs add prefixes to take on another meaning. In this and the previous chapter we have come across a lot more instances of such compound verbs which are listed in the table below.

Main Verb   Compound Verb
fangen
(to catch)
   anfangen
(to begin)
holen
(to fetch)
   abholen
(to pick up)
kommen
(to come)
   ankommen
(to depend; to arrive)
lassen
(to let; to leave)
   verlassen
(to leave)
leihen
(to lend, borrow)
   ausleihen
(to lend, borrow)
machen
(to do; to make)
   anmachen
(to switch on)
nehmen
(to take)
   abnehmen
(to lose weight)
unternehmen
(to do; undertake)
zunehmen
(to gain weight)
sehen
(to see)
   ansehen
(to look at)
aussehen
(to look like)
fernsehen
(to watch television)
stehen
(to stand)
   aufstehen
(to get up)
bestehen
(to consist)
wachen
(to be awake)
   aufwachen
(to wake up)
waschen
(to wash)
   abwaschen
(to do the washing up)
ziehen
(to pull)
   anziehen
(to put on)
ausziehen
(to take off)

Just as the gender and plural of compound nouns are determined by the final element of the noun, the declension of a compound verb is determined by the final element. Thus although all the compounds of "sehen" are irregular, they are not listed separately in verb tables as it suffices to learn the endings of "sehen" to be able to decline them all!

  • Ich sehe keine schwarzen Wolken (I can't see any black clouds)
  • Du siehst oft fern (You often watch television)
  • Anna sieht sich die Talkshow an (Anna watches the talk show)

And although we may only have come across the compounds of verbs such as fangen, lassen and wachen, we know how they will decline if we learn the endings of verbs such as anfangen, verlassen and aufwachen.

(Have you forgotten which prefixes are separable and which are inseparable? If so, click here.)


Other types of compound verbs
German compound verbs are not only formed by adding prefixes, but also by adding other parts of speech. As the following four examples show, it is also possible to add nouns and other verbs to form a compound verb:

Rad fahren
(to cycle)
   Ski laufen
(to ski)
einkaufen gehen
(to go shopping)
   spazieren gehen
(to go for a walk)

Notes
Although these compound verbs are written as two words, they behave in the same way as verbs with a separable prefix. This means that it is only the second element which declines - even if the first element is another verb as with einkaufen gehen and spazieren gehen. It also means that, like a separable prefix, the first element is positioned at the end of a German clause. For example:

  • Thomas fährt gern Rad.
    (Thomas likes cycling.)
  • Läufst du gern Ski?
    (Do you like skiing?)
  • Heute Nachmittag gehe ich einkaufen.
    (I'm going shopping this afternoon.)
  • Wir gehen jeden Abend spazieren.
    (We go for a walk every evening.)



Weiter! Chapter 10.13: The modal verbs "müssen" and "dürfen"


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