Reference · module 34
Building words
Everything this module explains, on one page.
ver-, be-, ent-, zer-
Guess a verb you have never seen from the one inside it.
- Four prefixes change a verb without ever detaching: ver-, be-, ent-, zer-. They are unstressed, and that is what marks them as inseparable.
- Each has a direction. ver- often means wrongly or away: sprechen to speak, versprechen to promise, sich versprechen to misspeak.
- be- makes a verb take a direct object: antworten auf etwas becomes beantworten etwas. ent- removes, zer- destroys: entfernen, zerbrechen.
- None of them takes ge- in the participle: versprochen, beantwortet, entfernt, zerbrochen. You have been using that rule since A1 without a name for it.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich beantworte auf die Frage.
Ich beantworte die Frage.
Antworten auf has a preposition and the meaning has not changed, so auf feels safe. The be- prefix swallows it: beantworten takes its object directly.
-ung, -heit, -keit, -bar
Read a long word by its ending.
- The ending tells you the gender for free. Everything in -ung, -heit, -keit and -schaft is feminine, without exception worth mentioning.
- -ung turns a verb into a noun: lösen becomes die Lösung, wohnen becomes die Wohnung. That is where half of formal German comes from.
- -bar means can be done: essbar, lesbar, machbar. -los means without: arbeitslos, hoffnungslos. Both turn a noun or verb into an adjective.
The mistake you are about to make
der Lösung
die Lösung
Gender normally has to be memorised word by word, so these get memorised too. They need not be: -ung, -heit, -keit and -schaft are feminine without exception.
Long compounds
Break a fifteen-letter word into the three words inside it.
- Read a compound from the right. Arbeitserlaubnis is Erlaubnis for Arbeit — a work permit, and it is feminine because Erlaubnis is.
- The last part decides the gender and the meaning; everything before it only narrows. Krankenversicherung is a Versicherung, not a Kranke.
- The little letters between parts — the s in Arbeitserlaubnis, the n in Krankenversicherung — are joins, not meaning. Ignore them when you read.
The mistake you are about to make
die Arbeit Erlaubnis
die Arbeitserlaubnis
English writes the parts apart — work permit — so the German looks like two words too. It is one, joined by an s that carries no meaning of its own.
Guessing from parts
Read a text with unknown words and keep going.
- The strategy is three steps: find the root, read the ending, check the prefix. Unbezahlbar is bezahlen, plus -bar, plus un- — not payable, so unaffordable.
- Look a word up only when it carries the sentence. A text where you understand eight words in ten is a text you can read at speed.
- Watch the false friends. bekommen is to receive, not to become. Gift is poison. Chef is a boss, not a cook.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich bekomme müde.
Ich werde müde.
Bekommen looks exactly like become and means to receive. Ich bekomme müde says somebody is handing you tiredness. Becoming is werden.