Editing German language (section)

===Verb inflection===
Standard German verbs inflect into:
* one of primarily two [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] classes, [[Germanic weak verb|weak]] and [[Germanic strong verb|strong]] (as in English). Additionally, there is actually a third class, known as mixed verbs, which exhibit inflections combining features of both the strong and weak patterns.
* three [[Grammatical person|persons]]: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
* two [[Grammatical number|numbers]]: singular and plural
* three [[Grammatical mood|moods]]: [[Realis mood|indicative]], [[imperative mood|imperative]], [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]]
* two [[voice (grammar)|voices]]: active and passive; the passive being composed and dividable into static and dynamic.
* two non-composed [[Grammatical tense|tenses]] ([[present tense|present]], [[preterite]]) and four composed tenses ([[perfect (grammar)|perfect]], [[pluperfect]], [[future tense|future]] and [[future perfect]])
* distinction between [[grammatical aspect]]s is rendered by combined use of subjunctive and/or preterite marking; thus: neither of both is plain indicative voice, sole subjunctive conveys second-hand information, subjunctive plus preterite marking forms the conditional state, and sole preterite is either plain indicative (in the past), or functions as a (literal) alternative for either second-hand-information or the conditional state of the verb, when one of them may seem indistinguishable otherwise.
* distinction between perfect and [[Continuous and progressive aspects|progressive aspect]] is and has at every stage of development been at hand as a productive category of the older language and in nearly all documented dialects, but, strangely enough, is nowadays rigorously excluded from written usage in its present normalised form.
* disambiguation of completed vs. uncompleted forms is widely observed and regularly generated by common prefixes (blicken - to look, erblicken - to see [unrelated form: sehen - to see]).

====Verb prefixes====

The meaning of base verbs can be expanded, and sometimes radically changed, through the use of any number of prefixes. Some prefixes have a meaning themselves; the prefix '''''zer-''''' refers to the destruction of things, as in '''''zer'''reißen'' (to tear apart), '''''zer'''brechen'' (to break apart), '''''zer'''schneiden'' (to cut apart). Others do not have more than the vaguest meaning in and of themselves; the use of '''''ver-''''' is found in a number of verbs with a large variety of meanings, as in '''''ver'''suchen'' (to try), '''''ver'''nehmen'' (to interrogate), '''''ver'''teilen'' (to distribute), '''''ver'''stehen'' (to understand). 

Other examples include ''haften'' (to stick), '''''ver'''haften'' (to detain); ''kaufen'' (to buy), '''''ver'''kaufen'' (to sell); ''hören'' (to hear), '''''auf'''hören'' (to cease); ''fahren'' (to drive), '''''er'''fahren'' (to experience).

=====Separable prefixes=====

Many [[German verbs]] have a separable prefix, often with an adverbial function. In [[finite verb]] forms this is split off and moved to the end of the clause, and is hence considered by some to be a "resultative particle". For example, ''mitgehen'' meaning "to go with" would be split, giving ''Gehen Sie mit?'' (Literal: "Go you with?" ; Formal: "Are you going along"?; a closer equivalent in colloquial English would be "Are you coming with?").

Indeed, several [[parenthetic]]al clauses may occur between the prefix of a finite verb and its complement; e.g.
:''Er '''kam''' am Freitagabend nach einem harten Arbeitstag und dem üblichen Ärger, der ihn schon seit Jahren immer wieder an seinem Arbeitsplatz plagt, mit fraglicher Freude auf ein Mahl, das seine Frau ihm, wie er hoffte, bereits aufgetischt hatte, endlich zu Hause '''an''' ''.
A literal translation of this example might look like this:
:He '''-rived''' on Friday evening, after a hard day at work and the usual annoyances that had been repeatedly troubling him for years now at his workplace, with questionable joy, to a meal which, as he hoped, his wife had already served him, finally '''ar-''' at home.