Hör auf sie anzumachen.
I stopped studying german for about 6 weeks, and now this line, from the Friends TV series looks weird to me.

"Hör auf sie anzumachen. Sie wollte heute heiraten." One of the friends, Monica, says this to her other friend. So why the full form of the verb anmachen?

I think I forgot a rule :)

But, here is my guess: There are 2 verbs (aufhören und anmachen), so "zu" must be used with the 2nd verb. And when "zu" is used, it requires the full form of the verb, the infinitive form. So even though Monica is speaking to her close friend, she has to use the full form.

Was denkt Ihr darüber?

Danke im Voraus,
Brian (choppy)

Question

Hör auf sie anzumachen. 
I stopped studying german for about 6 weeks, and now this line, from the Friends TV series looks weird to me.

"Hör auf sie anzumachen. Sie wollte heute heiraten."  One of the friends, Monica, says this to her other friend.  So why the full form of the verb anmachen?

I think I forgot a rule :)

But, here is my guess:  There are 2 verbs (aufhören und anmachen), so "zu" must be used with the 2nd verb.  And when "zu" is used, it requires the full form of the verb, the infinitive form.  So even though Monica is speaking to her close friend, she has to use the full form.

Was denkt Ihr darüber?

Danke im Voraus, 
Brian (choppy)

Answer

First, "zu" is not a preposition here, so it's not "zu" that requires the infinitive form. Rather, "anzumachen" is an infinitive form of "anmachen" - in compound verbs, "zu" goes between the prefix and the root instead of being a separate word.

"Zu" is the rule, not the exception. Most verbs that can be used with another verb in its infinitive form, like "aufhören", require the "zu" infinitive. Note that "hören" alone without the prefix is one of those exceptions.

A comma is not required (anymore). It's *allowed* to prevent ambiguity, but there is no ambiguity in this sentence: You can't put a comma in any other location.

Note that "zu" is the same word as English "to", but you can't directly compare how they are used; English grammar has too many non-Germanic influences. As per my Swedish teacher: English is German with Celtic grammar. You can see this in domasla's example, which is completely different from the German sentence, as far as grammar is concerned.

Answer

Hör auf, sie anzumachen. 
Shove in the comma and it all makes sense.

Answer

"Stop making a pass at her."  
Why is there ony one "ing" in "making", not "stopping"? I think that's the same problem.

Answers · 3

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