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!
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.
August 12, 2014
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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
August 12, 2014
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