Which German prefixes are always inseparable?

be, emp, ent, er, ge, miss, ver and zer are always inseparable, in every tense.

Where does the separable prefix go in a sentence?

In a simple main clause, it moves to the very end: Ich stehe um sieben Uhr auf. In a subordinate clause introduced by a word like weil, the whole verb, prefix included, moves to the end instead.

Can the same prefix be separable and inseparable?

Yes. durch, über, um, unter and wieder can go either way on the same verb, with a different meaning each time, so übersetzen can mean to translate (inseparable) or to ferry across (separable).

How do I know if a prefix is stressed or unstressed?

Say the verb out loud. Separable prefixes carry the stress, inseparable prefixes do not. If you are unsure, the stress pattern is usually the fastest check.

Does a separable prefix always take ge in the past participle?

Usually, but not always. The ge goes between the prefix and the stem, as in aufgestanden, while inseparable prefixes skip ge entirely, as in verstanden. Two groups break the pattern: verbs ending in -ieren never take ge at all, and a separable verb that also carries an inseparable prefix further in loses the ge too, since the inseparable part already blocks it.

What does the prefix ver- usually mean?

ver- usually points to something going wrong, away or used up, as in vergessen, verschlafen or verändern, but treat that as a strong tendency rather than a fixed rule.

Is there a fast way to learn all German prefixes at once?

No, and trying to usually backfires. Learn separable versus inseparable first, then take one prefix at a time and collect real verbs that use it, rather than memorising a list of meanings in isolation.

German Prefixes6 October 2026Worio Team

German prefixes: separable, inseparable and what they mean

Which German prefixes split off, which stay put, and what each one usually adds to a verb.

Take a verb you already know, stehen, to stand, and watch what happens when you add a prefix. Aufstehen means to get up. Verstehen means to understand. Bestehen means to pass an exam, or, with aus, to consist of something. Entstehen means to come into being. Same root, four completely different verbs, and none of them mean "to stand" anymore. This is how German builds most of its vocabulary: a small set of roots, multiplied by prefixes. Once you know how the prefix system works, you stop treating each verb as a separate word to memorise.

How a prefix changes a verb

Every prefixed verb in German falls into one of two families: separable or inseparable. The difference is not cosmetic. It changes where the prefix sits in a sentence, whether it carries the stress, and what happens in the past participle. Get this wrong and a sentence like "Ich stehe auf" turns into something a native speaker has to mentally untangle.

Separable prefixes

Separable prefixes are stressed, and in a main clause they split off from the verb and move to the end of the sentence. In the past participle, ge goes between the prefix and the stem. The most common separable prefixes are ab, an, auf, aus, ein, mit, nach, vor, zu, zurück and weg. Watch what happens to aufstehen (to get up) across three forms.

Present tense, the prefix moves to the end: Ich stehe um sieben Uhr auf.
Perfect tense, ge sits between the prefix and the stem: Ich bin um sieben Uhr aufgestanden.
Subordinate clause, the whole verb, prefix included, moves to the end: ..., weil ich um sieben Uhr aufstehe.

Inseparable prefixes

Inseparable prefixes are unstressed and never split off, in any tense. They also never take ge in the past participle, the prefix already does that job. be, emp, ent, er, ge, miss, ver and zer are always inseparable. Compare verstehen (to understand) in the present and the perfect: Ich verstehe dich. becomes Ich habe dich verstanden., with no ge anywhere.

Prefixes that can be both

A handful of prefixes, durch, über, um, unter and wieder, can be either separable or inseparable on the same verb. Which one applies changes both the stress and the meaning, so you cannot guess, you have to learn the pair.

Verb	Type	Meaning	Example
übersetzen	Inseparable	to translate	Ich übersetze den Text.
übersetzen	Separable	to ferry across	Der Fährmann setzt uns über.
umfahren	Separable	to knock down	Er fährt das Schild um.
umfahren	Inseparable	to drive around	Er umfährt die Baustelle.
wiederholen	Inseparable	to repeat
wiederholen	Separable	to fetch back
unterstützen	Inseparable	to support

Unterstützen breaks down literally as unter plus stützen, to prop up from under, which is exactly what "to support" means once you see the pieces.

What the common prefixes usually mean

Prefix meanings are tendencies, not formulas, but the tendency is strong enough to guess at a new verb's meaning before you look it up.

Prefix	Usual idea	Examples
ab-	off, away	abfahren, abnehmen
an-	on, toward	ankommen, anrufen
auf-	up, open	aufstehen, aufmachen
aus-	out	aussteigen, ausgehen
ein-	in	einsteigen, einkaufen
mit-	along	mitkommen, mitbringen
nach-	after, again	nachdenken, nachfragen
vor-	before, forward	vorbereiten, vorstellen
zu-	closed, toward	zumachen, zuhören
be-	makes the verb take a direct object	antworten auf -> beantworten
ent-	away, removal	entfernen, entkommen
er-	reach a result	erreichen, erkennen
ver-	wrong, away, change	verschlafen, vergessen, verändern
zer-	to pieces	zerbrechen, zerstören
miss-	wrongly	missverstehen

These meanings are tendencies, not rules. Verkaufen is not "to sell wrong", it just means "to sell". Use the prefix as a first guess, then confirm with the actual verb.

How to learn prefixes

Learn separable and inseparable as two groups first, before worrying about meaning.
Pick one prefix a week and collect five to ten verbs that use it.
Say the sentence out loud with the prefix in its real position, not just the infinitive.
When you meet a durch, über, um, unter or wieder verb, check which version you are looking at before you guess the meaning.

How Worio helps

When you save a German word in Worio, WordDNA breaks it into its prefix, root and suffix and explains each part in English, along with the word's family, the preposition it takes if it has one, example sentences, synonyms and antonyms. You can add a word by pasting German text or typing it directly. Worio is built especially for B1 to C1 learners, and it covers German only.

For more on building prefix intuition, read How to remember German words with prefixes. Once prefixes click, the next step is seeing how whole German word families grow from a single root.

Save any German word and Worio shows you its prefix, root and family in English.

See every word's prefix and root in Worio

Frequently asked

Separable prefixes split off from the verb and move to the end of a main clause, and they take ge between the prefix and the stem in the past participle. Inseparable prefixes never split off and never take ge in the past participle.