In Part I, we took a look at how some German prefixed verbs have meanings that don't have a clear relationship to their root words. Today, we'll take a look at some more examples.

As you probably already know, German verbs often use prefixes that change the meaning of their original root words. Usually, the prefixed verbs have a related meaning, however. For example, sagen ("to say") is related to besagen ("to state") by the fact that both words are related to speaking.

But in some cases, the relation of a prefixed verb to its root word is not so clear. For instance, untersagen means "to forbid," which in most usages refers to a law or rule rather than a verbal order. Its adverb strays even further from the root word: Es ist untersagt, den Raum zu betreten ("It is forbidden to enter the room").

Many such prefixed verbs are centuries old and stem from Middle German. They may have started off with a stronger relation to their root words, but as time went on, the meanings of the words may have changed.

Du musst endlich damit aufhören!

You have to finally stop this!

Caption 39, Die Pfefferkörner: Alles auf Anfang

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The root verb hören means "to hear." A beginner's mistake might be to think aufhören means "to listen to," but in fact it means "to stop" and has no obvious correlation to its root word. The prefixed verb for "to listen" is zuhören, by the way!

Die Zahl der Flüchtlinge zu begrenzen lehnte sie in dem Interview mit der Funke Mediengruppe ab.

Limiting the number of refugees is something that she rejected in her interview with Funke Mediengruppe.

Captions 38-39, Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten: Atomenergie und Flüchtlingspolitik

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In this case, the root verb lehnen means "to lean," but the prefixed verb ablehnen means "to reject." According to the word's etymology in the Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, ablehnen has been in use since the 16th century, but unfortunately no explanation is given as to its connection with lehnen.

Ich würde vorschlagen, da machen wir einen Termin am Freitag um zwölf Uhr.

I'd suggest that we make an appointment for Friday at twelve o'clock.

Caption 26, Mein Weg nach Deutschland: Beim Arzt

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A mistaken correlation with the root word schlagen ("to beat" or "to strike") might suggest an army making a preemptive strike, but in fact, the meaning of vorschlagen ("to suggest") is much less aggressive. If making a kind of verbal suggestion to somebody instead of hitting them is possible, it's definitely the better way to go!

Last but not least, here's an example with the root verb stellen and the prefixed verb vorstellen. Note that the word vor in the first example is a preposition, not part of the verb.

Ich stelle den vollen Müllbeutel deutlich sichtbar vor die Haustür.

I place the full trash bag clearly visible in front of the front door.

Caption 37, Deutsch mit Eylin: Putzen

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Man stelle sich mal ein Europa vor, in dem alle Länder ihre Primärenergie ökologisch sauber zu decken versuchten.

Imagine a Europe in which all countries tried to cover their primary energy in a way that was ecologically clean.

Captions 25-26, Terra X Ohne Kohle und Atom: Geht uns der Strom aus?

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Further Learning
Look at this list of 375 verbs with prefixes and look out for prefixed verbs that are not closely related to their root verbs. You can also search the Lessons on Yabla German for various conjugations of the verbs listed above to see them used in different contexts.

This week, we'll look at vocabulary for describing German apartment buildings, which is often no easy task. Even when a building is not particularly large in comparison to what you might find in other cities, there are some essential words for describing where you are located.

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The architecture of many apartment buildings involves a central courtyard, der Hinterhof. The part of the building that is immediately on the street is called das Vorderhaus, while the apartments accessed by going through the courtyard are in what is generally called either das Hinterhaus, das Quergebäude, or das Gartenhaus. The part of the building that runs along the sides of the courtyard and connects these two parts is called der Seitenflügel and is often specified with links or rechts.

So, if you have a visitor and need to describe where your apartment is located, this may be what you specify first. Next, however, you will also need to describe what floor you are on. There are three nouns for this: die Etage, das Stockwerk (der Stock), and das Obergeschoss (sometimes abbreviated OG). Do keep in mind that the ground floor (das Erdgeschoss or das Hochparterre when it's elevated from street level) is not considered the first floor in German-speaking countries! 

Unser Büro befindet sich im vierten Stock.

Our office is located on the fourth floor.

Caption 47, Berufsleben: das Vorstellungsgespräch:

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Das Zimmer ist in der vierten Etage.

The room is on the fourth floor.

Caption 13, Nicos Weg: Im Hotel

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Wir können damit ins erste OG [Obergeschoss] hoch.

We can hoist it onto our shoulders, we can go up to the first floor [US second floor] with it

Caption 43, Feuerwehr Heidelberg: Löschfahrzeug

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In order to reach these floors, a visitor will need to either take the stairs, or if they're lucky, find an elevator. There are also two different words used for "the elevator" in German.

Du, ich bin schon im Treppenhaus.

Hey, I'm already in the stairwell.

Caption 64, Die Pfefferkörner: Alles auf Anfang

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Den Aufzug finden Sie vorne rechts.

You'll find the elevator in the front on the right-hand side.

Caption 20, Nicos Weg: Im Hotel

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Ich hab grad gehört, der Fahrstuhl bleibt stecken.

I just heard that the elevator is stuck.

Caption 3, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

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With any luck, they will then find the door of the apartment. Like the front door of a house, there is also a special word for this in German:

Ich stelle den vollen Müllbeutel deutlich sichtbar vor die Haustür.

I place the full trash bag clearly visible in front of the front door.

Caption 37, Deutsch mit Eylin: Putzen

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Dieser Brettschneider hat doch gesagt, dass die Typen direkt vor seiner Wohnungstür gestanden haben.

This Brettschneider guy told us that the guys were standing right in front of his apartment door.

Captions 43-44, Großstadtrevier: Von Monstern und Mördern

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Further Learning
Practice describing where a friend or relative's apartment is in their building. You can also choose an office you've been to and describe which floor it's on. For more information about this topic, including common abbreviations, you can check out this Wikipedia page. 

I've had native German-speaking colleagues tell me that I speak German with a very good accent. So it came as a shock to me a couple of years ago when a British friend (who had studied at a German university and whose accent is excellent) said to me: "You just said danke schon back there. It's danke schön!" I realized that I'd somehow slid from the uniquely German sound of the umlaut Ö into a standard O. I spent the next couple of months working to consciously improve my umlaut pronunciation awareness.

When you are first learning a foreign language, you will likely encounter letters and letter combinations that are unlike anything in your native language. We all know that it takes a while to learn to pronounce them, getting your mouth's muscle memory used to making completely new movements to get that sound to come out right.

But what we may be a bit less conscious of is the fact that it is also difficult to hear the sounds of some letters and letter combinations in a new non-native language. A native English speaker may, hearing German for the first time, try to mimic danke schön as "donkey shown." This is not only due to its difficult pronunciation. To some extent, a beginner may even hear it the way they mispronounced it.

You'll likely be familiar with the adjective schön, which is usually translated as "nice," "beautiful," or "pretty."

Die beiden sind doch ein richtig schönes Paar.

The two of them make a really nice couple.

Caption 83, Die Pfefferkörner - Endspurt

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Es war einmal eine schöne, junge Frau namens Jorinde.

There was once a beautiful young woman named Jorinde.

Caption 5, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Jorinde und Joringel

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The adverb schön, however, is rarely translated the same as the adjective. In the case of danke schön, it is usually translated as "thank you" or "thank you very much." The "very much" addresses the adverb schön, since with only danke then "thank you" or "thanks" is enough. The key to the adverb schön, however, is that it strengthens whatever it is modifying.

Hast es dir schön gemütlich gemacht hier.

You've made yourself nice and comfortable here.

Caption 30, Lerchenberg - Viva La Television!

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Ich liebe die Atmosphäre bei mir zu Hause,

I love the atmosphere in my home,

besonders, wenn alles schön sauber gemacht worden ist.

especially when everything has been made nice and clean.

Captions 1-2, Deutsch mit Eylin - Putzen

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In the two captions above, schön was translated as "nice" with the additional conjunction "and" so that it correlates with the standard English construction "nice and..." The above could have been translated, albeit it less gracefully, as "nicely comfortable" or "nicely clean." The above two captions are also perfect examples where somebody starting to learn German may misinterpret schön as schon, which would have a different meaning:

Du hast es dir schon gemütlich gemacht hier.
You've already made yourself comfortable here.

Ich liebe die Atmosphäre bei mir zu Hause, besonders, wenn alles schon sauber gemacht worden ist.
I love the atmosphere at my house, especially when everything has already been made clean.

Note that some of the German above is not quite grammatically correct, but it's written as a misheard statement. In the first one, the person who misheard might reply "Yes, of course I'm already comfortable, should I not be?" In the second, someone might reply "Oh, do you have a housekeeper who cleans for you in advance?" Mild misunderstandings to be sure, but misunderstandings nonetheless. Just imagine the confusion when this poor soul hears the following:

So, jetzt weißt du schon ganz schön viel

So now you already know quite a lot

über mich und meine Familie.

about me and my family.

Captions 51-52, Deutsch mit Eylin - Die Familie

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Or better yet:

Ist schon schön, ne?

It is nice, isn't it?

Caption 44, Angelique Kerber - Ihre tennisfreie Zeit

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Say that twenty times fast as a tongue-twister, or as the case may be, an umlaut twister! Note that schon isn't translated. That is because although it is technically an adverb, it's really more of a "filler word" or modal particle.

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and search for schön being used as an adverb, which is any use of schön that does not appear before a noun. See all of the different ways that it can be translated according to the different contexts, including into the English adverb "pretty." But more about the strange relationship of schön and "pretty" in an upcoming lesson!