Questions & Answers about Du musst ausweichen!
If I want to say 'You must dodge the car', how do I add 'the car' to this sentence?
You need to use the dative case. The verb ausweichen requires a dative object, unlike the English verb 'to dodge' which takes a direct object. So, you would say Du musst dem Auto ausweichen!
ausweichen is a separable verb, so why are aus and weichen attached here?
Because of the modal verb musst. Modal verbs push the main verb to the end of the clause in its full infinitive form, keeping the prefix attached. If you remove musst, the verb splits as normal: Du weichst aus!
If I want to talk about dodging in the spoken past tense (Perfekt), do I use haben or sein?
You use sein. Even though dodging feels like an active thing you do, ausweichen describes a change of location or a movement away from something. The past tense would be Du bist ausgewichen.
What does the root verb weichen mean on its own?
weichen means to yield, give way, or retreat. Adding the prefix aus- (out) creates ausweichen, which literally paints the picture of 'yielding out of the way' of something, hence, to dodge or evade.
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