German A2.4 Listening Practice: Split The Verb Around The Message
Listen to a A2 German dialogue about split the verb around the message, with audio, transcript, and grammar notes for language learning.
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Level
A2.4
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
14 segments
A short German listening chapter with transcript.
Start the action in the usual verb position and listen for its final piece at the end of the clause.
Read while you listen.
1. Hanna · Teacher
Welcome back to German practice! Today, we're focusing on separable verbs like anrufen, to call, and aufstehen, to get up.
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2. Hanna · Teacher
In a present tense main clause, the conjugated base verb stays in position two, while the prefix splits off and goes all the way to the end. Let's listen to Clara and Felix.
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3. Clara · Native Speaker 2
Hallo Felix, stehst du morgen wieder sehr früh auf?
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4. Felix · Native Speaker 1
Ja, ich stehe morgen schon um sechs Uhr auf.
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5. Clara · Native Speaker 2
Wann hast du denn Zeit für ein Telefonat?
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6. Felix · Native Speaker 1
Heute rufe ich dich an, aber morgen stehe ich früh auf.
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7. Clara · Native Speaker 2
Gut, dann warte ich heute auf deinen Anruf!
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8. Hanna · Teacher
Let's examine Felix's sentence: 'Ich stehe morgen schon um sechs Uhr auf.' Here, the verb aufstehen splits, placing 'stehe' second and 'auf' at the end.
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9. Lukas · Student
What happens if we start the sentence with a time word like 'heute'?
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10. Hanna · Teacher
The conjugated verb still takes position two! So you get 'Heute rufe ich dich an'—'heute' is first, 'rufe' is second, 'ich' follows, and 'an' stays at the end.
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11. Hanna · Teacher
Now look at the challenge sentence from Felix: 'Heute rufe ich dich an, aber morgen stehe ich früh auf.'
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12. Lukas · Student
Does the conjunction 'aber' change where the second verb goes?
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13. Hanna · Teacher
'Aber' sits in position zero, so 'morgen' becomes position one, 'stehe' stays in position two, and 'auf' goes to the very end of that second clause.
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14. Hanna · Teacher
Remember to treat separable verbs as a single package with two split parts. Happy learning!
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