One of the trickiest features of german language I’ve experienced so far is the Trennbare Verben.
German verbs can have separable prefixes. These prefixes change the meaning of the original verb, and make a new word. In the present tense, separable prefixes are separated from the verb and placed at the end of the sentence bracket. The separation rule also applies in the imperative. When used in the infinitive, however (e.g. with a modal auxiliary), separable prefix verbs are not divided. As you will shortly learn, the participle forms in the past tense are also combined.

Hans steht jeden Tag um 9.00 Uhr auf.	Hans gets up every day at 9:00.
Hans, steh jetzt auf!	Hans, get up now!
Hans muss jeden Tag um 9.00 Uhr aufstehen.	Hans has to get up every day at 9:00.

Common separable prefixes. Remember that this list is only a rough guide to the meanings of prefixes, since their use is highly idiomatic.

ab = off, down abholen = to pick up abnehmen = to take off an = at, on anfangen = to start, begin anrufen = to call, telephone anziehen = to put on, dress auf = up aufhören = to stop aufräumen = to clean up aufstehen = to get up, stand up aus = out ausgehen = to go out aussehen = to look, appear ein = in, into einkaufen = to shop einschlafen = to fall asleep fern = far fernsehen = to watch TV fort = away fortgehen = to leave, go away her = ‘hither’, to here herholen = to fetch herkommen = to come from hin = ‘thither’, to there hinstellen = to place, put mit = with, along mitbringen = to bring along mitkommen = to come along mitnehmen = to take along nach = after nachdenken = to think, reflect nachfragen = to inquire, ask after um = around, at umsehen = to look around vor = before vorhaben = to have planned vorstellen = to introduce vorbei = by, past vorbeikommen = to come by weg = away weggehen = to go away, leave wegnehmen = to take away zu = to, closed zuhören = to listen zumachen = to close zurück = back zurückgeben = to give back zurückkommen = to come back zusammen = together zusammenkommen = to come together

filippo