A Question about "ge-" in German.
I've met several German words with "ge-", such as "brauchen" and "gebrauchen', I wander is "ge-" the prefix, if it is, what's the meaning of it?

Vielen danke!

Question

A Question about "ge-" in German.
I've met several German words with "ge-", such as "brauchen" and "gebrauchen', I wander is "ge-" the prefix, if it is, what's the meaning of it?

Vielen danke!

Answer

The 'ge-' prefix in German marks a past participle. For example:

sagen = to say  (ich sage - I say/am saying)
gesagt = said  (ich hage gesagt - I have said)

Some verbs with particular prefixes (such as be-, er-) don't take this prefix when forming the past participle.

Answer

Hello,

Adam is right that the prefix ge- forms the past tense in German, but "gebrauchen" is also  a verb itself.

gebrauchen = brauchen, verwenden, benutzen > to use:

Peter gebraucht  / benutzt den Hammer, um einen Nagel in die Wand zu schlagen.

http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/gebrauchen