Word Formation (Wortbildung)

Example: Derivations of other words from the verb "sprechen":

To see some of the possibilities, consider as an example the strong verb "sprechen" and its most common meaning, "to speak."

"Sprechen" as a basis for certain nouns:

There are seven basic ways in which we can turn the verb "sprechen" into a noun:

1. By converting the infinitive into a neuter noun, "das Sprechen," which is equivalent to an English gerund and indicates the act of speaking. It has no plural form.
2. By adding an "-er" or an "-erin" to the stem to indicate a male or female who performs the action (speaker): "der Sprecher / die Sprecherin." In certain cases, the "-er" can also indicate an instrument: "der Fernsprecher" (telephone); "der Lautsprecher" (loudspeaker). The plural of these "-er" nouns is the same as the singular: "die Sprecher", "die Lautsprecher", etc. The plural of the feminine form is of course "-erinnen": "die Sprecherinnen." (Link here to a further discussion of the suffix "-er").
3. By adding an "-e" to the preterite form ("sprach") to create a feminine noun, "die Sprache" (language; manner of speaking). The plural adds an "-n": "die Sprachen." (Link here to a further discussion of feminine nouns derived from verbs).
4. By using an old form of the preterite to create a masculine noun, "der Spruch" (saying; slogan; [legal] verdict). The plural of this form of nominalization involves an umlaut when possible and a final "-e": "die Sprüche". (See below for a further discussion of masculine nouns derived from strong verbs).
5. By adding ge- to the umlauted preterite form to create a so-called "collective noun," "das Gespräch" (discussion; conversation). The plural adds an "-e": "die Gespräche." (Link here to a further discussion of collective nouns).
6. By turning the present participle into an adjectival noun: "der Sprechende" (the man who is speaking) / "die Sprechende" (the woman who is speaking).
7. By turning the past participle into an adjectival noun: "das Gesprochene" (that which has been said).

While "sprechen" does not offer this option, a number of verbs can also be converted to nouns by adding the suffix "-ung" to the stem. The result is a feminine noun that indicates an instance of the verb: "wandern" (to hike) becomes "die Wanderung" (hike); "trennen" (to separate) becomes "die Trennung" (separation). See more about "-ung" below, as well as in the section on "-ung" in the general discussion of suffixes.

Variations on "sprechen" as a basis for other verbs:

Inseparable prefixes:

We can also create other verbs by affixing a prefix to "sprechen". Here are some examples that employ "inseparable prefixes." As the name indicates, "inseparable prefixes" are a fixed part of the new verb. (Link here to a general discussion of inseparable prefixes):

"besprechen" (to discuss); "entsprechen" (to correspond to; to be consistent with); "widersprechen" (to contradict); "versprechen" (to promise); "sich versprechen" (to misspeak)

As is always in the case with verb prefixes, the basic conjugation stays the same as that of the original verb. However, an inseparable prefix replaces the "ge-" of the past participle:

Infinitive	Preterite	Past Participle	3rd-Person Sing.
sprechen	sprach	gesprochen	spricht
besprechen	besprach	besprochen	bespricht
entsprechen	entsprach	entsprochen	entspricht
widersprechen	widersprach	widersprochen	widerspricht
versprechen	versprach	versprochen	verspricht

Examples of their use - all of these prefixes are discussed in greater length in the general section on (inseparable prefixes).

Wir haben die Situation genau besprochen.  We discussed the situation thoroughly. [As in English (e.g. to belittle, besmirch, beknight, beget, bespeak, etc.), "be-" makes a verb directly transitive.]

Das entspricht meinen Vorstellungen.  That corresponds to what I imagine. ["ent-" often has the meaning of the English "dis-" ("entdecken"  to discover; "entkleiden"  disrobe) or "away from" ("entfernen"  to remove), "entlassen"  to discharge; to lay off) - but neither of those meanings seems to apply here.]

Warum musst du mir immer widersprechen?  Why do you always have to contradict me? ["wider-" means "against".]

Er versprach mir, sein Bestes zu tun.  He promised me to do his best.

Als ich das sagte, habe ich mich versprochen.  When I said that, I misspoke. ["ver-" has a great many possible functions. Here is a general discussion of "ver-".

When a verb has the prefix "ver-" and is reflexive, it can mean to make a mistake during that activity:

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Er hat sich verlaufen.  He got lost [walking]

Sie hat sich verfahren.  She got lost lost [driving]

Ich habe mich bei der Addition verrechnet.  I miscalculated in my addition.

Separable prefixes:

Separable prefixes form a much larger set of possibilities. These elements provide either a more precise, or a significantly different meaning of the modified verb. Thus they serve as the "verb complement". Link here to a fuller discussion of separable prefixes.

English has an analogous, but less frequently applied concept. Consider, for example, what happens when "up" is added to a verb like "to cut" or "to grow": "I cut it" -> "I cut it up"; "She grew" -> "She grew up."

Most, but not all, separable prefixes are derived from prepositions and retain much of the meaning that they had in that form. As with inseparable prefixes, the conjugation of the original verb remains the same, but, as their name would imply, separable prefixes can be detached. (There is a fuller discussion in the general section on separable prefixes. The following illustrates only separable prefixes that are combined with the verb "sprechen"):

Take the example of "durchsprechen". While the prefix "durch-" can have various definitions, here it takes on the meaning of entering a process with purpose and coming out the other end. Hence "durchsprechen" means: to talk through; to talk over; to talk out; to argue something out:

In the verb's infinitive form, the prefix is attached: "durchsprechen".




In the finite form, the prefix separates from the stem verb and goes to the end of the clause, the position of the verb complement: "Er spricht die Lage mit mir durch" (He talks over the situation with me).




In the past participle, the prefix is attached, but, in contrast to inseparable prefixes, it does not replace the "ge-": "durchgesprochen".




If the verb is in the form of an infinitive with "zu", the "zu" comes between the prefix and the original verb: "Er versucht, die Lage mit mir durchzusprechen" (He tries to talk over the situation with me).

Further examples of separable prefixes that can be added to the base verb "sprechen":