Breakdown of Fahren Sie weiter!
Sie
you (formal)
fahren
to drive, to travel
weiter
further, on (continuing)
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Questions & Answers about Fahren Sie weiter!
Why does this sentence start with the verb (Fahren Sie)?
This is a formal command, also known as the imperative. To tell someone what to do using the formal Sie, you simply swap the subject and the verb. The regular statement Sie fahren (You are driving) becomes the command Fahren Sie! (Drive!).
Why is the word weiter sitting by itself at the end of the sentence?
The full verb used here is weiterfahren (to drive on / to keep driving), which is a separable verb. In present tense sentences and commands, the prefix (weiter) breaks off from the verb stem (fahren) and moves to the very end of the sentence.
Does weiter always translate to "on"?
The word weiter usually translates to "further" or "farther". However, when used as a prefix on a verb, it means to continue doing an action. Just like weiterfahren means "to keep driving" or "to drive on", weiterarbeiten means "to keep working".
This lesson is about the past tense (Perfekt). How would I use this separable verb to say "You drove on"?
To form the past participle of a separable verb, the -ge- goes right between the prefix and the verb stem. So weiterfahren becomes weitergefahren. To say "You drove on" formally, you would say Sie sind weitergefahren. Remember to use sind (are) as the helping verb instead of haben (have) because driving involves a change of location.