How do you use a seperable German Verb and another infintive verb in the same sentence?
Were would you put the prefix if have a conjugated a seperable verb and are using an infinitive verb in the same sentence. eg I start to work? Is it "Ich fange zu arbieten an" or "Ich fange an zu arbieten?"

Question

How do you use a seperable German Verb and another infintive verb in the same sentence?
Were would you put the prefix if have a conjugated a seperable verb and are using an infinitive verb in the same sentence. eg I start to work?  Is it "Ich fange zu arbieten an" or "Ich fange an zu arbieten?"

Answer

Ich fange zu arbeiten an. 
Ich fange jetzt an zu arbeiten.
The first sentence is the most common and would be used in grammar tests, but the German word order is quite flexible, so in certain contexts you could use as well the second version.

Answer

These are really two questions.

1) You put the separable prefix wherever it belong according to the rules, i.e. at the end if it's part of the conjugated verb in a main clause, and together with the verb in all other cases.

2) But where do you put dependent infinitives? For simple infinitives, the canonical place is before the verb it depends on (which can move to second position, possibly leaving a separable prefix behind):

..., weil ich heute zu arbeiten anfange. Ich fange heute zu arbeiten an.

HOWEVER, under some circumstances it's possible to put the whole construction "after the end" (in das Nachfeld):

https://dict.leo.org/grammatik/deutsch/Satz/Wortstellung/Stellungsfeld/Nachfeld.html

So both "Ich fange zu arbeiten an" and "Ich fange an zu arbeiten" are correct.

Answers · 3

Still haven’t found your answers?

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!