As you have likely learned, German verbs often use prefixes that change their meaning compared to 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 strong relation to their root words, but as time went on, the meanings of the words may have changed. Perhaps untersagen came from the days when a Saxon chieftain ruled the tribe by verbal command rather than by written laws?

Wir freuen uns immer, wenn Ausländer Deutsch sprechen.

We're always glad when foreigners speak German.

Caption 32, Anna: Am Strand in Mexiko

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Und auch die Tierstudien widersprechen sich.

And even the animal studies contradict each other.

Caption 17, Terra X: Anti-Aging durch Fasten?

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Sie müssen einen Kunstkörper herstellen für Präparate, die dem Original entsprechen.

They must make a plastic body for mountings that correspond to the original.

Captions 25-26, Wettlauf gegen den Verfall: Beruf Präparator

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The verb sprechen is the root word of many prefixed verbs that have at least a tentative relation to speaking: absprechen ("to agree"), durchsprechen ("to talk over"), or weitersprechen ("to continue speaking"), for example. But while people can contradict each other verbally, you see above that widersprechen can also be used in contexts far beyond those containing speech. And the verb entsprechen goes even further away from its root word sprechen.

Er läuft Runden im Park, bis die Beine versagen.

He runs laps in the park until his legs fail.

Caption 21, Maxim: Meine Soldaten

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The primary meaning of the verb versagen is "to fail," and is pretty far removed from its root word sagen. However, the secondary meaning is "to deny (something)," which has stronger correlations to the root word: Es war uns versagt, den Raum zu betreten. ("We were denied access to the room.")

Die Hochzeit würde also stattfinden.

The wedding would indeed take place.

Caption 45, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Hans mein Igel

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It's difficult to reconcile stattfinden ("to take place") with finden ("to find"). The noun die Statt is an old-fashioned word meaning "place," but it's unclear how "to find" is related to the meaning.

Es gibt keinerlei Hinweise dafür, dass Flüchtlinge öfter Straftaten begehen als andere Menschen.

There is no proof whatsoever that refugees commit crimes more often than other people.

Captions 42-43, Flüchtlingskrise: 10 Vorurteile, die nicht stimmen

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Eine Straftat begehen means "to commit a crime," and einen Fehler begehen means "to make a mistake." On the surface, there is little correlation with gehen ("to go").

The Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (DWDS for short) has a good section on the etymology or historical origin of German words, but in most cases, they too have difficulties making tentative connections with a lot of the words above.

Further Learning
Read this blog about how German prefixes alter the meanings of words. You can also search the Lessons on Yabla German for various conjugations of the verbs listed above to see them used in different contexts.

You may have occasionally seen sentences like the following: Sie sagte, er spreche sehr gut Deutsch. 

You may think, er spreche? What is going on here?

This structure is an example of what is known as the indirekte Rede (in English "reported speech"), which is used more often but not exclusively in written German and formal reporting or storytelling. Sentences like this will involve the verb sagen or other verbs used to talk about what people think and say, such as antworten, äußern, behaupten, berichten, denken, erklären, fragen, glauben, or meinen.

In instances where someone's speech or thoughts are reported, you may see the subjunctive (Konjunktiv I) employed, like in the sentence above. For regular verbs, some of the endings are indistinguishable from other tenses, but some are very different. Here is the complete Konjunktiv I conjugation of the verb sprechen, and here are examples of how it would be used with reported speech:

Er sagte, ich spreche sehr gut Deutsch. ("He said I speak very good German.")
Er sagte, du sprechest sehr gut Deutsch. ("He said you speak very good German.")
Er sagte, er/sie spreche sehr gut Deutsch. ("He said she/he speaks very good German.")
Er sagte, wir sprechen sehr gut Deutsch. ("He said we speak very good German.")
Er sagte, ihr sprechet sehr gut Deutsch. ("He said you speak very good German.")
Er sagte, Sie/sie sprechen sehr gut Deutsch. ("He said they speak very good German.")

In the following examples, you can see the same conjugation pattern with a few other verbs: 

Der König hatte sie nicht eingeladen,

The King hadn't invited her,

weil es hieß, sie habe ein böses Herz.

because it was said she had an evil heart.

Caption 19, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Dornröschen

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Er verband ihm das Bein,

He bandaged his leg,

fragte ihn nicht, wohin er wolle, woher er käme.

did not ask him where he was going, where he had come from.

Captions 7-8, Janoschs Traumstunde - Der Wettlauf zwischen Hase und Igel

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Der hat mir erzählt, er sei echt nur...

he told me that he really just is...

Er fahre eigentlich Mercedes

He actually drives a Mercedes

und kleide sich deshalb so schräg ...

and the reason he dresses so weirdly...

Captions 30-31, Yello-Biographie - Ein Leben für die Avantgarde

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You may have noticed that kommen is irregular. One other irregular verb that you have likely seen conjugated like this is sein:

Von daher werde ich nicht tanzen,

Therefore I won't be dancing,

so dass ich behaupten kann, ich sei ein brillianter Tänzer,

so I can claim that I'm a brilliant dancer

und niemand kann es konterkarieren.

and nobody can disprove it.

Captions 25-26, Deutsche Sporthilfe - Ball des Sports

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Hans erklärte, er sei nicht verzaubert,

Hans explained that he was not bewitched,

sondern wirklich ein Igeljunge.

but really a hedgehog boy.

Caption 71, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Hans mein Igel

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Sie behaupteten, sie seien Weber eines seltenen,

They claimed that they were weavers of a rare,

besonders schönen Stoffes.

especially beautiful cloth.

Caption 25, Märchen - Sagenhaft Des Kaisers neue Kleider

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Further Learning
You will likely come across examples of reported speech on Yabla German from time to time, but structures like Sie sagt, dass er Italienisch spricht are simply more common in spoken German. When you do see an example that uses Konjunktiv I, check to see if it's a regular or irregular verb in terms of its conjugation. 

The German imperative mood, or command form, can be very difficult or very easy depending on whom you are addressing. This week, we'll look at some various examples from Yabla German to highlight what you'll need to keep in mind. 

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For a person or group of people that you would address as Sie, the command form is quite easy. You will simply say the root of the verb with -en added (in most cases this will be identical to the infinitive) followed by Sie:

Nehmen Sie bitte Platz, Frau Sonntag.

Please have a seat, Ms. Sonntag.

Caption 35, Das Lügenbüro - Die Bewerbung

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Bitte, seien Sie jetzt ganz still.

Please, be completely silent now.

Caption 60, Magie - Die Zaubershow

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For a group of people you would address as ihr, you will simply use the present tense conjugation. The subject ihr, however, is no longer included in the sentence. 

Gebt mir die schönen Sätze. Jacob beginnt.

Give me the [your] nice sentences. Jacob will begin.

Caption 20, Deutschkurs in Blaubeuren - Relativsätze mit Präpositionen

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The most difficult imperative sentences to form are those for people you would refer to as du, because there are several different patterns they can follow depending on the characteristics of the verb. For weak verbs, the form will be the verb's stem, although an "e" is added to the end with certain consonants. For strong verbs, the imperative will take into account any changes to the root that occur. In any case, du does not usually appear in the sentence. 

Atme ganz tief ein

Breathe in very deeply

Caption 43, Christina Stürmer - Wir leben den Moment

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Aber schau mal hier.

But look here.

Caption 23, Bubble Beatz - Supertalente vom Schrottplatz

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„Vergiss es! Das wird nicht passieren.“

"Forget it! It won't happen."

Caption 74, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Hans mein Igel

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Sei ruhig, Findus, ich bin ja noch gar nicht aufgestanden.

Be quiet, Findus, I indeed haven't gotten up yet at all.

Komm, bleib kurz stehen, nimm meine Hand

Come, stand still for a brief moment, take my hand

Caption 5, Michelle - Paris

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Further Learning

For more information on the du imperative, look at this website or this website. If you wish to make flashcards, use the second column of the table on this page, which shows the du imperative for a number of common strong verbs. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The "royal we" form is mostly found today in fairy tales, medieval fiction, and fantasy literature such as The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. In centuries past, it was common for royalty and religious leaders to be referred to (and to refer to themselves) in the plural tense, based upon the conceit that, in referring to themselves, they were referring to "God and I." German uses the Latin term Pluralis Majestatis to denote the "royal we."

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

This obsolete form of personal pronoun does not present any grammatical problems in English, since it is commonly either rendered in modern English as "we" or "you" (in the plural sense), or in archaic English as thee, thou, thine etc., although these forms are also merely archaic and not necessarily reflecting the "royal we" form.

In German, however, the use of "royal we" can be initially perplexing. For the nominative second person singular pronoun, instead of the modern Sie (you), the "royal we" form uses Ihr, with the Ihr always capitalized. Initially this may appear to be the same as the plural pronoun ihr, but is actually addressed to a single person:

Majestät, Ihr [Pluralis Majestatis] seid die Schönste hier.

Majesty, you are the most beautiful here.

Caption 86, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Schneewittchen

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In standard German, the above sentence would have been written: Sie sind die Schönste hier. The "royal we" case Ihr conjugates the verb the same as the plural nominative second person pronoun ihr.

The accusative second person singular pronoun Sie (you), in a similar fashion, uses for the "royal we" form of the capitalized version of the accusative second person plural Euch:

Ich befreie Euch [Pluralis Majestatis] von dem Versprechen, Prinzessin!

I free you from the promise, Princess!

Caption 58, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Hans mein Igel

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In standard German, the above sentence would have been written: Ich befreie Sie von dem Versprechen.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
To further familiarize yourself with the use of the "royal we," go through the videos (listed on the right hand side of this lesson) on Yabla German that include extensive examples of Pluralis Majestatis.