Technology & Communication
Technology & Communication
Everyday tech vocabulary in German leans heavily on separable verbs — anrufen, aufladen, herunterladen — whose prefixes detach and move to the end of the clause, just like the ones you met with daily routines.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
anrufen — a separable verb for 'to call'
Ich rufe dich später an. (I'll call you later — anrufen splits: rufe...an)
I'll call you later.
anrufen ('to call/phone') is a separable verb: in a main clause, the prefix an- detaches and moves to the very end, just like the separable verbs you met with daily routines (aufstehen, fernsehen). English 'call' never splits into two pieces like this, so remember an- doesn't disappear — it's just relocated to the end of the sentence.
schreiben + dative for who you're writing to
Ich schreibe dir eine Nachricht. (I'm writing you a message.)
I'm writing you a message.
As with geben and other 'transfer' verbs, the person receiving the message goes in the dative (dir), while the message itself is the accusative object (eine Nachricht) — the familiar dative-before-accusative-noun-object word order pattern.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| das Handy | dahs HEN-dee | mobile phone |
| anrufen | AHN-roo-fen | to call (separable) |
| eine Nachricht schreiben | EYE-neh NAHKH-rikht SHRY-ben | to write a message |
| die E-Mail | dee EE-mayl | |
| das WLAN | dahs VAY-lahn | WiFi |
| der Akku | dair AH-koo | battery |
| aufladen | OWF-lah-den | to charge (separable) |
| die App | dee ep | app |
| im Internet surfen | im IN-ter-net SUR-fen | to browse the internet |
| herunterladen | hair-OON-ter-lah-den | to download (separable) |
| Kannst du mich hören? | kahnst doo mikh HUR-en | Can you hear me? |
| Ich habe keinen Empfang. | ikh HAH-beh KY-nen emp-FAHNG | I have no signal/reception. |