Before you start
Meet zurückgehen
Read how the verb is used, then write your own 10 sentences with it.
Build the meaning
zurück- + gehen
- zurück-
- back toward an earlier place or state
- gehen
- to go
To go back toward where or how things were before.
So zurückgehen means to go back or return; to decrease.
A memory aid, not a rule: prefixes change meaning from verb to verb.
Learning approach inspired by this explanation in r/German.
Verb family
More verbs built on gehen
Same base verb, a different prefix, a new meaning.
- ausgehento go out, assume
- eingehento deal with, give attention
- weitergehento go on
- angehento concern, go on
- umgehento treat, handle
- hingehento go there
- zugehento approach, close
- aufgehento rise, open
Separable verb: zurück·gehen
In a main clause the prefix zurück splits off and goes to the end. After weil, dass and other subordinating words, the verb stays in one piece at the end.
Main clauseWir gehen am Abend zurück.We go back in the evening.
Subordinate clauseEr bleibt, weil die anderen zurückgehen.He stays because the others go back.
Participle: zurückgegangenzu-infinitive: zurückzugehen
Forms
How zurückgehen changes
| Pronoun | Präsens | Präteritum |
|---|---|---|
| ich | gehe zurück | ging zurück |
| du | gehst zurück | gingst zurück |
| er/sie/es | geht zurück | ging zurück |
| wir | gehen zurück | gingen zurück |
| ihr | geht zurück | gingt zurück |
| Sie | gehen zurück | gingen zurück |
Partizip II zurückgegangen · Perfekt with sein
Three examples
- 1Ich gehe nach der Arbeit zurück.I go back after work.prefix goes to the end
- 2Der Preis ist wieder zurückgegangen.The price has gone down again.decrease with sein
- 3Sie sagt, dass sie zurückgeht.She says that she is going back.verb at the end after dass
Task 1 of 10 · Build a sentence
Build a German sentence using these words:
zurückgehen + das Kind
Your challenge
- 1Use the present tense.
- 2Say that the child goes back home.
Task 2 of 10 · Translate
Translate into German:
I went back to her after workdie Arbeit.
Stuck on a word? Hover or tap an underlined word to see it in German.
Task 3 of 10 · Translate
Translate into German:
When it got coldkalt, we went back homenach Hause.
Stuck on a word? Hover or tap an underlined word to see it in German.
Task 4 of 10 · Translate
Translate into German:
He goes back because he forgot his phonedas Handy.
Stuck on a word? Hover or tap an underlined word to see it in German.
Task 5 of 10 · Translate
Translate into German:
The roaddie Straße that goes back to the villagedas Dorf is closedgesperrt.
Stuck on a word? Hover or tap an underlined word to see it in German.
Task 6 of 10 · Translate
Translate into German:
We must go back to the stationder Bahnhof before eight.
Stuck on a word? Hover or tap an underlined word to see it in German.
Task 7 of 10 · Translate
Translate into German:
She decidedbeschließen to go back homenach Hause.
Stuck on a word? Hover or tap an underlined word to see it in German.
Task 8 of 10 · Translate
Translate into German:
Why did the priceder Preis go down so quicklyschnell?
Stuck on a word? Hover or tap an underlined word to see it in German.
Task 9 of 10 · Build a sentence
Build a German sentence using these words:
zurückgehen + die Zahl + obwohl
Your challenge
- 1Start with an obwohl-clause.
- 2Use the present tense.
- 3Say that the number remains high.
Task 10 of 10 · Free writing
Answer in one full German sentence:
Where would you like to go back to, and why?
Your challenge
- 1Answer with a place you would like to return to.
- 2Use Konjunktiv II.
- 3Give a reason with a weil-clause.