The infinitive with zu: when it goes in and when it does not
CEFR B1 · part 1
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
If I could: the Konjunktiv II with würde, hätte and wäreTalking about what is not real: what you would do, would have, would be. With the short…The passive with werden: when what is done matters, not whoBuilding a German passive with its two pieces —werden conjugated and the participle at…The genitive: des, der, and the -s stuck onto the nounSaying whose something is with the fourth case: des Mannes, der Frau, des Kindes, der…Relative clauses: der, die, das again, and the verb at the endHooking a description onto a noun with der, die or das, choosing the form with two…als, wenn or wann: German's three ways of saying «when»Choosing between the three with two questions: is it a QUESTION, direct or indirect?…Reflexive verbs: sich, and the mich that is sometimes mirUsing the dozen reflexives that come up daily —sich freuen, sich interessieren, sich…The rule, in three lines
When a sentence has a second verb, that verb goes to the end as an infinitive with zu in front: Ich versuche zu arbeiten. There are few cases where it is NOT used: after the six modals, after werden, and after sehen, hören and lassen. In a separable verb the zu goes INSIDE, between prefix and stem: anzurufen, aufzustehen.
The usual slip. Putting zu after a modal: Ich muss zu arbeiten. Modals never take it, and they are the verbs you practise second infinitives with most. And in separable verbs, writing zu anrufen instead of anzurufen: the zu does not go in front of the word, it goes inside.
Why it catches you out. English is remarkably close: «to work» is zu arbeiten, and after modals English also drops it —«I must work», never «I must to work»—. So the rule and its exception are both already in your head. The only new thing is the separable verb, where German slides the zu inside: anzurufen.