uhýbat

Uhýbat is a Czech verb meaning to bend away from a straight path, to veer, or to dodge. The prefix u- combined with hýbat (to move) gives a sense of turning aside rather than continuing straight. The verb also extends to figurative uses, meaning to evade or dodge something, such as questions or arguments.

In literal, physical contexts, uhýbat describes moving aside to avoid an obstacle or to change direction: for example, auto uhýbalo do pravého pruhu (the car swerved to the right lane) or člověk uhýbal ze cesty (a person moved out of the way). In figurative usage, it can mean avoiding a topic or confrontation: politik se snažil uhýbat otázkám (the politician tried to dodge the questions).

Grammatically, uhýbat is imperfective and behaves like other Czech movement verbs with present tense forms such as: já uhýbám, ty uhýbáš, on/ona uhýbá, my uhýbáme, vy uhýbáte, oni uhýbají. Past tense is formed with the auxiliary být in the appropriate gender/number: já uhýbal jsem, ty uhýbal jsi, ona uhýbala byla, my uhýbali jsme, vy uhýbali jste, oni uhýbali. The verb can take directional complements (doprava, doleva, ze cesty) or prepositional objects (před otázkami, před námitkami).

See also: hýbat, vyhýbat se, vyhnout se. While related to vyhýbat se, uhýbat emphasizes the act of turning aside or dodging, in both physical and abstract senses.