What does “de wekker gaat af” mean in Dutch?

When a Dutch alarm rings, it “goes off” — “de wekker gaat af.” The verb is “afgaan,” where the prefix “af” splits away from “gaan” and lands at the end of the sentence. Dutch does this with hundreds of separable verbs, and hearing “gaat af” and recognising it as one unit is a key step for any learner. The pattern is the same in English — an alarm “goes off” — but in Dutch the two parts visibly separate across the clause.

The morning-routine line is: “Om zeven uur des morgens gaat de wekker af” — at seven in the morning the alarm goes off. In the past tense the verb stays split: “de wekker ging af.” In a subordinate clause the two parts come back together: “ik weet dat de wekker elke dag afgaat.” The verb “afgaan” carries other meanings depending on context: “het pistool ging af” (the gun went off), “dat gaat slecht af” (that’s going to go badly), “hij ging er op af” (he made for it). Related separable verbs from the same morning routine in this clip: “opstaan” (ik sta op — I get up) and “aankleden” (ik kleed me aan — I get dressed). All three show the same split: the prefix waits at the clause end.