Editing German language (section)

====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.