German · A1 · Family moment
Ready for Adventure in German
Practise getting ready for hobbies and outings with your child. Learn anziehen (to put on), aufstehen (to get up) and mitkommen (to come along). These separable verbs often split into two parts in a sentence.
What you'll learn
- Ask your child to put on outdoor clothes and shoes.
- Talk about when you get up.
- Invite someone to come along.
- Use separable verbs in simple statements, questions and requests.
German phrases for ready for adventure
Zieh bitte deine Jacke an.
Put on your jacket, please.
Zieh … an is the informal command for one person. Bitte makes the request polite.
Zieh deine Turnschuhe an.
Put on your trainers.
Turnschuhe means trainers or sneakers. The prefix an goes at the end.
Ziehst du deine Stiefel an?
Are you putting on your boots?
German uses the simple present here. For a yes/no question, put ziehst before du.
Steh bitte jetzt auf.
Please get up now.
Steh … auf is the informal command form of aufstehen for one person.
Wir stehen um sieben auf.
We get up at seven.
Use um for clock times. Um sieben means at seven.
Wann stehst du morgen auf?
When do you get up tomorrow?
Wann means when. Morgen makes the future meaning clear, so the present tense is natural.
Möchtest du mitkommen?
Would you like to come along?
After möchtest, mitkommen stays together and goes at the end.
Dein Freund kann mitkommen.
Your friend can come along.
For a female friend, say: Deine Freundin kann mitkommen. After kann, mitkommen stays together.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
anziehen
to put on
Use it for putting on clothes and footwear. Separable parts: an + ziehen.
aufstehen
to get up
Separable parts: auf + stehen.
mitkommen
to come along
Separable parts: mit + kommen.
die Jacke
jacket
A feminine noun: deine Jacke means your jacket.
die Turnschuhe
trainers; sneakers
Plural. One trainer is der Turnschuh.
die Stiefel
boots
Plural here. One boot is der Stiefel.
morgen
tomorrow
Write it with a lowercase m when it means tomorrow.
der Freund / die Freundin
male friend / female friend
Use dein Freund or deine Freundin when saying your friend to one child.
Separable verbs in statements and questions
In a simple main clause, the verb changes to match the subject and its prefix goes at the end. In statements, the verb is in second position. In yes/no questions, it comes first; after a question word such as wann, it comes next.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Statement | Subject + verb + other information + prefix | Wir stehen um sieben auf. |
| Yes/no question | Verb + subject + other information + prefix? | Ziehst du deine Stiefel an? |
| Question with wann | Wann + verb + subject + other information + prefix? | Wann stehst du morgen auf? |
Friendly commands
When speaking to one child, use the informal singular command without du. The prefix goes at the end. Add bitte to make the request polite.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| anziehen | Zieh … an. | Zieh bitte deine Jacke an. |
| aufstehen | Steh … auf. | Steh bitte jetzt auf. |
Keep the verb together after a modal verb
With modal forms such as möchtest (would like) and kann (can), the action verb stays in its infinitive form at the end. Do not separate its prefix.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Invitation | Möchtest du + infinitive? | Möchtest du mitkommen? |
| Possibility or permission | Subject + kann + infinitive. | Dein Freund kann mitkommen. |
More examples
Du ziehst deine Jacke an.
You are putting on your jacket.
In this statement, ziehst is in second position and an is at the end.
Ich stehe um sieben auf.
I get up at seven.
With ich, use stehe.
Kommst du mit?
Are you coming along?
Without a modal verb, mitkommen separates into kommst … mit.