A prefix does two things at once: it makes the verb perfective and it changes the meaning. Learning the prefixes is the fastest way to multiply the vocabulary you already have.
I can recognise what a prefix adds to a familiar verb and spell the common prefixes correctly.
Schau dir diese Beispiele an. Kannst du das grammatische Muster erkennen?
Запішы мой нумар, каб не забыць.
Write down my number so you do not forget.
Падпішыце тут, калі ласка.
Sign here, please.
Ён адказаў адразу і адкрыў дзверы.
He answered at once and opened the door.
Трэба перапісаць гэты тэкст начыста.
This text needs copying out neatly.
Achte auf die hervorgehobenen Teile. Was haben sie gemeinsam?
Add a prefix to an imperfective verb and you get a perfective one with a new meaning. From пісаць alone:
| напісаць | to write (and finish) |
| запісаць | to write down, to record |
| падпісаць | to sign |
| апісаць | to describe |
| перапісаць | to rewrite, to copy out |
| выпісаць | to write out, to discharge |
| па- | start, or do a little | пайсці, пачытаць |
| пры- | arrival, attachment | прыйсці, прынесці |
| вы- | out | выйсці, выпіць |
| за- | behind, or beginning | зайсці, запець |
| пера- | across, again | перайсці, перарабіць |
| раз- / рас- | apart | разбіць, расказаць |
| з- / с- | completion, together | зрабіць, сабраць |
| да- | as far as, finish off | дайсці, дапісаць |
Prefixes are where Belarusian orthography shows itself:
Eight prefixes across thirty common verbs is a couple of hundred words you can read without having met them. At B1 this is the single highest-yield thing in the vocabulary.
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses B1 an
ÜbungsaufgabenTypical errors: assuming a prefix means the same thing on every verb, and combining a prefixed perfective with буду.
Writing от-, под-, по- instead of ад-, пад-, па-
Akanne applies to prefixes too: адказаць, падпісаць, пайсці.
Choosing з or с by the Russian pattern
It follows the sound: зрабіць before a voiced consonant, сказаць before a voiceless one.
Assuming a prefix means the same on every verb
За- can mean behind or beginning; the verb decides.
Combining a prefixed perfective with буду
Напішу, not буду напісаць.
Запішы мой нумар, каб не забыць.
Write down my number so you do not forget.
<em>За-</em> gives the sense of recording, and the verb is perfective.
Падпішыце тут, калі ласка.
Sign here, please.
<em>Пад-</em>, not <em>под-</em> - akanne applies to the prefix as well.
Ён адказаў адразу і адкрыў дзверы.
He answered at once and opened the door.
Two verbs with <em>ад-</em> where Russian has <em>от-</em>.
Трэба перапісаць гэты тэкст начыста.
This text needs copying out neatly.
<em>Пера-</em> for doing something again.
Мы дайшлі да ратушы за дзесяць хвілін.
We reached the town hall in ten minutes.
<em>Да-</em> for reaching a limit, paired with the preposition <em>да</em>.
Im Kurs üben
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses B1 an