Breakdown of Du musst den Klatsch widerrufen.
du
you (informal singular)
müssen
to have to, must
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Klatsch
the gossip
widerrufen
to retract
Questions & Answers about Du musst den Klatsch widerrufen.
How does the prefix wider- create the meaning of widerrufen?
The prefix wider- generally adds the sense of "against" or "contrary to." Combined with rufen (to call), the literal meaning becomes "to call against" something that was previously said. This perfectly matches the English concepts of retracting, revoking, or taking back a statement.
Does the prefix wider- mean the same thing as wieder-?
No, and this is a common trap even for native German speakers because they sound exactly the same! The prefix wieder- means "again" (as in wiedersehen, to see again), while wider- means "against" or "in opposition to." In this sentence, you aren't calling the gossip again, you are speaking against it to cancel it out.
How would I form the past tense (Perfekt) of widerrufen?
The past participle is simply widerrufen. Because wider- acts as an inseparable prefix here, you do not add ge- to the verb. Since the base verb rufen is a strong verb whose normal participle is gerufen, the inseparable version just drops the ge-. The past tense of this sentence would be: Du hast den Klatsch widerrufen.
Could I use widerrufen if I wanted to "take back" a physical object to a store?
No, widerrufen is only used for abstract things like statements, claims, or legal agreements. Besides den Klatsch (the gossip), you can einen Vertrag widerrufen (revoke a contract) or eine Aussage widerrufen (retract a statement). If you want to take back or return a physical item, you should use a verb like zurückgeben.
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