ufänke mat / ophale mat

Starting and Stopping: Ufänke Mat, Ophale Mat

Level 4

To say that an activity starts or stops, use ufänke mat or ophale mat and a plain infinitive: Et fänkt u mat reenen. (It is starting to rain.) Hien huet opgehale mat fëmmen. (He stopped smoking.)

How It Works

1. The pattern
Put mat and a plain infinitive after ufänken or ophalen:

  • Et fänkt u mat reenen. (It is starting to rain.)
  • Wéini häls de endlech op mat fëmmen? (When are you finally going to stop smoking?)

The infinitive stays a verb, so it keeps its small letter: mat reenen, mat fëmmen, mat schaffen.

2. Where everything goes
Ufänken and ophalen are separable verbs. In a main clause the prefix goes to the end, and the mat phrase normally follows it:

  • Present: Et fänkt u mat reenen.
  • With a modal: Meng Kolleegin wëllt ophale mat fëmmen.
  • Perfect: Hien huet opgehale mat fëmmen.

3. The participles
Both verbs take hunn in the perfect. The participles are ugefaangen (or the short form ugefaang) and opgehalen (or opgehal). Before mat, the long forms lose their n by the n-rule:

  • Et huet ugefaang mat reenen. or Et huet ugefaange mat reenen.
  • Hien huet opgehale mat fëmmen.

The same rule gives the infinitives ufänke and ophale before mat, which is why the pattern is written ufänke mat and ophale mat.

4. The ze alternative
You can also use ze + infinitive instead of mat. The meaning is the same:

  • Hal wannechgelift op ze kräischen! (Please stop crying!)
  • Si fänken un, rout ze ginn. (They are starting to turn red.)

Use one or the other: either mat + infinitive or ze + infinitive, never both together.

5. With a noun
Ophale mat can also take a noun: Haalt op mat deem Kaméidi! (Stop that noise!) Ufänke mat + noun means to start with something: Mir fänke mat der éischter Übung un. (We start with the first exercise.)

Be careful with eppes or näischt as an object. Eppes ufänke mat means to make use of something: Ech ka mat där Iddi näischt ufänken. (I can't do anything with that idea.)

Examples (6)

  1. Et fänkt u mat reenen.

    It is starting to rain.

    Un goes to the end of the main clause, and mat reenen follows it.

  2. Et huet ugefaang mat reenen.

    It started to rain.

    Ugefaang is the short participle of ufänken.

  3. Hien huet opgehale mat fëmmen.

    He stopped smoking.

    Opgehalen loses its n before m by the n-rule.

  4. Meng Kolleegin wëllt ophale mat fëmmen.

    My colleague wants to stop smoking.

    After a modal, the whole verb ophalen stays together; its n drops before mat.

  5. Wéini fänks du u mat schaffen?

    When do you start work?

  6. Hal wannechgelift op ze kräischen!

    Please stop crying!

    Here ophalen takes ze + infinitive instead of mat.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the n of the participle before mat.

    Hien huet opgehalen mat fëmmen.
    Hien huet opgehale mat fëmmen.

    Mat starts with m, so the n-rule drops the final n: opgehale mat, ugefaange mat.

  • Leaving the prefix on the verb in a main clause.

    Et ufänkt mat reenen.
    Et fänkt u mat reenen.

    Ufänken is separable. In the present tense of a main clause, fänkt stands in second place and un goes to the end.

  • Using mat and ze together.

    Ech halen op mat ze fëmmen.
    Ech halen op mat fëmmen.

    Mat takes a plain infinitive. If you want ze, leave out mat: Ech halen op ze fëmmen.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ufänke mat / ophale matLevel 4Starting and Stopping: Ufänke Mat, Ophale Mat

Learn This First

Before Starting and Stopping: Ufänke mat, Ophale mat, learn Separable Prefixes Un- and An- and The Infinitive With Ze.

Words in This Pattern

ufänkenophalenmat