German · A1 · Family moment
Ready for School in German
Practice gentle school-morning reminders with aufstehen (get up), anziehen (put on clothes), and mitkommen (come along). These separable verbs split into two parts in simple statements, questions, and commands.
What you'll learn
- Use friendly commands to help a child get ready for school.
- Talk about getting up and putting on clothes.
- Recognize where separable verb prefixes go.
German phrases for ready for school
Steh bitte auf.
Get up, please.
Use steh for a command to one child. The prefix auf goes at the end.
Wir stehen um sieben auf.
We get up at seven.
Um sieben means 'at seven.' Auf goes at the end.
Zieh deine Socken an.
Put on your socks.
Anziehen splits into zieh and an in this command.
Zieh deine Schuhe an.
Put on your shoes.
Deine Schuhe means 'your shoes.' The prefix an goes at the end.
Zieh bitte deine Jacke an.
Put on your jacket, please.
Bitte makes the request more polite.
Ich ziehe meinen Mantel an.
I put on my coat.
With ich, use ziehe. Mantel is masculine, so 'my coat' as the object is meinen Mantel.
Komm bitte mit.
Come along, please.
Mitkommen splits into komm and mit in this command.
Willst du mitkommen?
Do you want to come along?
With willst ('want to'), mitkommen stays together at the end.
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
aufstehen
to get up
Separable verb: stehen + auf.
anziehen
to put on clothes
Separable verb: ziehen + an. Use it for clothes and shoes.
mitkommen
to come along
Separable verb: kommen + mit.
die Socke; die Socken
the sock; the socks
Use deine Socken for 'your socks' when speaking to one child.
der Schuh; die Schuhe
the shoe; the shoes
Use deine Schuhe for 'your shoes' when speaking to one child.
die Jacke
the jacket
A feminine noun: deine Jacke means 'your jacket.'
der Mantel
the coat
A masculine noun: use meinen Mantel as the object of anziehen.
bitte
please
Add bitte to make a reminder more polite.
um sieben
at seven
Use um with clock times.
Separable verbs in statements
In a simple statement, the verb changes to match the subject. Its prefix goes at the end.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| aufstehen | wir stehen … auf | Wir stehen um sieben auf. |
| anziehen | ich ziehe … an | Ich ziehe meinen Mantel an. |
| mitkommen | ich komme … mit | Ich komme mit. |
Commands to one child
For an informal command to one child, use steh, zieh, or komm without du. Put the separable prefix at the end. Add bitte for politeness.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Get up | Steh … auf. | Steh bitte auf. |
| Put on | Zieh … an. | Zieh bitte deine Jacke an. |
| Come along | Komm … mit. | Komm bitte mit. |
Questions with 'want to'
Wollen means 'to want to.' In a yes/no question with du, put willst first. The other verb stays in its full infinitive form at the end: mitkommen does not split here.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Want to come along? | Willst du + infinitive? | Willst du mitkommen? |
More examples
Ich stehe um sieben auf.
I get up at seven.
With ich, use stehe; auf goes at the end.
Zieh bitte deine Schuhe an.
Put on your shoes, please.
A polite reminder to one child.
Kommst du mit?
Are you coming along?
Without a modal verb such as wollen, mitkommen splits: kommst comes first and mit goes at the end.