A1-44 · Place the two verb parts correctly

At work

Build sentences with modal verbs and separable verbs while talking about work.

About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions

An office worker arrives at a desk with a clock, notebook and telephone.

Say what you must do

A modal verb stands in the second position of a statement. Its infinitive partner goes at the end: Ich muss um acht Uhr anfangen. Everything between them stays inside this verb bracket.

Ich muss um acht Uhr anfangen.

I have to start at eight o’clock.

Mara muss heute arbeiten.

Mara has to work today.

Wir müssen viel telefonieren.

We have to make many phone calls.

Heute muss ich arbeiten.

Today I have to work.

Anfangen means start, arbeiten work and telefonieren make phone calls. After muss, the separable infinitive anfangen stays together.

An employee tidies a desk and organizes files at the end of a workday.

Separate a prefix without a modal

Without a modal, a separable verb splits: Ich fange um acht Uhr an. The conjugated part comes second and the prefix goes last. Aufräumen means tidy up.

Ich fange um acht Uhr an.

I start at eight o’clock.

Mara räumt den Tisch auf.

Mara tidies the table.

Ich muss den Tisch aufräumen.

I have to tidy the table.

Ben fängt um neun Uhr an.

Ben starts at nine o’clock.

Compare Ich räume den Tisch auf with Ich muss den Tisch aufräumen. With a modal, conjugate the modal and put the complete infinitive aufräumen at the end.

Two colleagues compare a task list before taking a break with cups of tea.

Discuss tasks with colleagues

A colleague is ein Kollege or eine Kollegin. Die Aufgabe means task and die Pause break. Können and wollen use the same bracket as müssen.

Kannst du heute helfen?

Can you help today?

Wir wollen eine Pause machen.

We want to take a break.

Die Kollegin arbeitet hier.

The female colleague works here.

Diese Aufgabe ist wichtig.

This task is important.

In a yes/no question, the modal comes first but the infinitive remains last: Kannst du heute helfen?

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