Some German verbs have a prefix (as we have already seen), some verbs are compound verbs as a combination of verb with preposition. These verbs are for instance:

Examples   anfangen = to start     fallen = to fall     hinfallen = to fall down     umfallen = to fall over     anfallen = to attack     wegfallen = to be abolished     denken = to think     ausdenken = to imagine, to invent     fahren = to drive     wegfahren = to drive away, to go away by car (or train)     hinfahren = to go some place (by car or train)

Now there are some interesting details about these compound verbs. The conjugation is everything but easy:

Present tense   Ich fange an. = I start. Ich falle. = I fall.     Ich falle um. = I fall over.     Ich falle hin. = I fall down.

The preposition is separated from the conjugated verb and moves at the end of the sentence. We don't go into more details now, but it is the very end of the sentence (even with direct objects and attributes in-between).

Have a look at these phrases   aushalten = to stand sth, to bear sth     Wir halten das aus. = We stand this.   Wir hielten das aus. = We stood it.     einweichen = to soak sth     Ich weiche es ein. = I soak it.   Ich weichte es ein. = I soaked it.     abschneiden = to cut sth     Ich schneide den verfaulten Teil ab. = I cut the rotten part.   Ich schnitt den verfaulten Teil ab. = I cut the rotten part.

And last but not least there are also perfect participles with these compound verbs - even though they are not as difficult.

Present perfect   Ich bin gefallen. = I have fallen.   Ich bin umgefallen. = I have fallen over.     Der Hund hat den Mann angefallen. = The dog has attacked the man.     Das hat er sich ausgedacht. = He has invented it.     Sie hatte lange nachgedacht. = She had thought for a long time.     Er war am Morgen weggefahren. = He had left in the morning.

Here you see that the perfect participles of these compound verbs are not that difficult. The participle remains the same and the preposition finds its place at the start of the word. Of course - if you want to see it that way - the ge- prefix is going in the middle between preposition and "normal" participle. The result is the same.

Actually there are two different types of these verbs; those ones that separate from their preposition and those ones that don't.

Examples

a verb that separates from its preposition     hinfahren = Ich fahre mit dem Auto hin. = I go there by car.     a verb that keeps the preposition     überlegen = to think, to reflect Ich überlege es mir. = I think about it.

And to make things even more complicated: there are verbs that might act this way or that way and depending on that meaning something very different.

examples

version I     umfahren = to knock down Er fährt ihn mit seinem Auto um. = He knocked him down with his car.     Er hat ihn mit seinem Auto umgefahren. = He has knocked him down with his car.     version II     umfahren = to go round Er umfährt das Hindernis = He goes round the obstacle.     Er hat das Hindernis umfahren. = He has gone round the obstacle.