Nicht-trennbare Verben — Non-Separable Verbs
Non-separable prefixes (be-, ver-, ent-, er-, ge-, zer-, miss-, emp-) are unstressed and always stay glued to the verb. The verb never splits.
DeutschEnglish
verstehen
to understand (ver-)
vergessen
to forget (ver-)
erklären
to explain (er-)
bekommen
to receive/get (be-)
entscheiden
to decide (ent-)
gehören
to belong (ge-)
zerbrechen
to break/shatter (zer-)
How to Tell Separable from Non-Separable
Separable: prefix is STRESSED in speech — AUFstehen, ANrufen
Non-separable: prefix is UNstressed — verSTEHen, beKOMmen
If you can hear the stress on the prefix → separable. If the verb stem is stressed → non-separable.
💡 Non-separable verbs also have a different Partizip II (past participle) — no ge- prefix. verstehen → verstanden (not geverstanden!). This is covered in Module 12.
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