Breakdown of Der Boss zielt schnell, jedoch bin ich am Ausweichen!
ich
I
sein
to be
schnell
fast, quickly
am
on the / at the
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
jedoch
however
der Boss
the boss
zielen
to aim
ausweichen
to dodge
Questions & Answers about Der Boss zielt schnell, jedoch bin ich am Ausweichen!
How does the progressive form bin ich am Ausweichen work here?
This is the am-Progressiv, a colloquial but very common way to express that an action is happening right now (like the English '-ing' form). It is built using the conjugated verb sein (here, bin), the contraction am (an + dem), and the nominalized infinitive of the action verb.
Why is Ausweichen capitalized?
Because it is functioning as a noun! Since am contains the dative article dem, the word following it must be a noun. You can turn any German verb into a neuter noun simply by capitalizing its infinitive form, creating das Ausweichen (the dodging).
Why is the word order jedoch bin ich instead of jedoch ich bin?
The word jedoch (however) acts as an adverb occupying the first position in the second clause. German's strict V2 rule requires the conjugated verb (bin) to come exactly in the second position, which forces the subject (ich) to move to the third position. If you had used the coordinating conjunction aber (which takes position zero), the order would be aber ich bin.
The verb ausweichen is a separable verb. Why isn't the prefix aus- separated here?
Because in the am-Progressiv, you are treating the entire verb as a single noun (das Ausweichen). Prefixes only separate when the verb is conjugated in a main clause. Since sein is the conjugated verb here, the nominalized verb stays completely intact.
If I wanted to add who I am dodging, how would I add the object?
The verb ausweichen requires a dative object, so in standard German you would say Ich weiche dem Boss aus. However, adding objects to the am-Progressiv often sounds very clunky (e.g., Ich bin dem Boss am Ausweichen). When you need to include an object, native speakers will usually drop the am-form entirely and revert to the standard present tense.
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