- Separable verb
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A separable verb is a verb that is composed of a lexical verb root and a separable second root (particle). In some verb forms, the verb and the particle appear in one word, whilst in others the verb stem and the particle are separated. Note that the particle cannot be accurately referred to as a prefix because it can be separated from the "main lexical" root of the verb. German, Dutch, and Hungarian are notable for having many separable verbs.
For example, the Dutch verb aankomen is a separable verb. Compare the following sentences:
- Hij is aangekomen. – He has arrived.
- Ik kom morgen aan – I shall arrive tomorrow.
The Dutch verb whose infinitive is aankomen appears as a single-word participle in the first sentence, and as a separated finite verb (two words) in the second sentence.
In German:
- Er ist angekommen. – He has arrived.
- Ich komme morgen an – I shall arrive tomorrow.
The German verb whose infinitive is ankommen appears both joined and separated.
Some Hungarian examples:
- Leteszem a telefont. — I hang up the phone.
- Nem teszem le a telefont. — I do not hang up the phone.
The verb letesz is separated in the negative sentence. Affixes are separated from the verb in imperative and prohibitive moods, too. Moreover, word order influences the strength of prohibition, as the following examples show:
- Ne tedd le a telefon! — Do not hang up the phone.
- Le ne tedd a telefon! — Don't you hang up the phone! (stronger prohibition)
English has many phrasal or compound verb forms which are somewhat analogous. However, in English the preposition or verbal particle is either an invariable prefix ("understand") or is always a separate word ("give up"), without the possibility of grammatically conditioned alternations between the two such as can be seen in the examples from other languages given above. An adverbial particle can be separated from the verb by intervening words (e.g. up in the phrasal verb to screw up appears after the direct object, "things", in the sentence: "He is always screwing things up").
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