A German separable verb has a prefix that moves away from the conjugated stem in ordinary main clauses: anrufen becomes Ich rufe dich an. In the infinitive and standard verb-final subordinate clauses, the parts stay together. Learn the whole verb, its stress and one sentence; not every prefixed German verb is separable.
Published 18 September 2026 · Updated 13 October 2026
By Gora Academy · Editorial policy
Ich rufe dich an means I’ll call you, or I’m calling you, according to context. The final an is part of the verb anrufen, not a stray preposition with an object missing. German has put one verb into two sentence positions.
| Infinitive | Meaning | Main-clause example |
|---|---|---|
| anrufen | phone / call | Ich rufe dich an. |
| aufstehen | get up | Ich stehe früh auf. |
| einkaufen | shop | Wir kaufen heute ein. |
| mitkommen | come along | Kommst du mit? |
| zumachen | close | Ich mache die Tür zu. |
The infinitive is the basic dictionary form. In a simple statement, conjugate the stem in second position and put the separable prefix near the end. The prefix helps identify the full action, so keep listening until it arrives.
Ich möchte dich anrufen — I’d like to call you — keeps anrufen together as an infinitive. Wir müssen heute einkaufen — We have to shop today — does the same. The modal takes the finite position; the entire infinitive sits later.
Do not split anrufen just because you have learned that it is separable. Separation depends on the grammatical construction, not an instruction to separate the verb every time it appears.
Ich bin wach, weil ich früh aufstehe — I’m awake because I get up early. The finite verb is at the end of this standard subordinate clause, and prefix and stem are written together. … weil ich dich anrufe works the same way.
In writing, there is no space inside aufstehe. The main-clause Ich stehe auf separates the parts because the verb stem has moved into its main-clause position.
The perfect participle often puts ge between prefix and stem: anrufen → angerufen, einkaufen → eingekauft. Thus Ich habe dich angerufen means I called you. The participle, a verb form used to build the perfect tense, remains one written word.
In a zu-infinitive, zu goes between the parts: anzurufen, einzukaufen. For example, Ich versuche, dich anzurufen — I’m trying to call you. That does not apply to the ordinary modal construction, which has no zu.
Common inseparable prefixes include be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ver- and zer-. Besuchen stays together: Ich besuche dich — I visit you. Its participle is besucht, without ge. Some prefixes can work either way with different stress and meanings; check the actual verb.
Practise Wir kaufen heute ein with müssen. Answer: Wir müssen heute einkaufen. Now change Ich rufe dich an into the perfect. Answer: Ich habe dich angerufen. Three constructions show the same verb doing different positional jobs.