Learn German A1 – Lesson 5: My day

This is lesson 5 of the A1 German series on the OK+ channel, and its subject is My day. It is built for someone starting from nothing who wants to use what they learn the same day, rather than collect rules that help neither in the street nor at the office.

The grammar it works on is Trennbare Verben · Inversion bei Zeitangaben. This page carries the rule explained, the fifteen words of the lesson, example sentences and an exercise for today.

Trennbare Verben · Inversion bei Zeitangaben

German has compound verbs that split when conjugated: the verb keeps its second position and its prefix is thrown to the end of the sentence. The infinitive is aufstehen, but the sentence reads Ich stehe um sechs Uhr auf. Whoever misses this thinks a word has been forgotten at the end; in truth it is the prefix returning to its place.
As for a time expression: put it first and the verb still stays second, with the subject moving behind it — Am Morgen stehe ich früh auf. That is what inversion means.

Separable verbs

The fifteen words of this lesson

Example sentences

• Ich stehe um sechs Uhr auf. — I get up at six.
• Am Abend sehe ich fern. — In the evening I watch television.
• Wir kaufen am Samstag ein. — We go shopping on Saturday.
• Der Kurs fängt um neun Uhr an. — The course begins at nine.
• Um elf Uhr schlafe ich ein. — I fall asleep at eleven.

Today's exercise

Write your day, from waking to sleeping, in six sentences, three of them with a separable verb. Then rewrite all six beginning with the time expression and compare the word order before and after. This single exercise carries both rules on one page.

How to study this lesson

• Watch the lesson once end to end without stopping, to get the shape of it
• Watch it again, pausing at every new word and saying it aloud
• Write the fifteen words out by hand — writing fixes them better than reading
• Use three of the sentences the same day, even if only to yourself
• Do not move on until you can recall this vocabulary without looking

Where this lesson sits in the series

The series is twelve lessons in a deliberate order: each builds on the grammar and the vocabulary of the one before it. This is lesson 5 of twelve. Do not skip between them — skipping is the first cause of stalling at A1.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know a verb is separable?
By its prefix. auf-, an-, ein-, aus-, mit-, ab-, zu- usually separate, and the stress falls on them. be-, ver-, er-, ent- never separate.

Where does the prefix go?
To the end of the sentence: Ich räume das Zimmer auf.

And if there is a modal verb?
Then the verb returns whole to the end: Ich muss früh aufstehen.

Must I begin with the time expression?
No, it is optional. But fronting it is common in everyday German — and when you do, the verb must follow immediately.

Watch the video

The video is on the OK+ channel on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_jiT77s5RY

Also on OK+

• Learn German A1 – Lesson 4: Food and drink
• Learn German A1 – Lesson 6: My flat
• Fifty German verbs – part one

A tool that shortens the road

The OK Plus DE app gathers German administrative calculators and form templates in one place, free, ad-free, in seven languages. Android and iPhone, from the same page:
Get the OK Plus DE app