to cheat
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to cheat
To have a sexual or romantic relationship with another person while in a committed partnership or marriage; to be unfaithful.
Sie hat herausgefunden, dass ihr Mann seit Monaten fremdgeht.
She found out that her husband has been cheating for months.
'Fremdgehen' (to cheat) is a separable verb. The prefix 'fremd' comes at the end in a main clause. In subordinate clauses and in the infinitive with 'zu', the verb stays together.
Er geht seiner Freundin oft fremd.
He often cheats on his girlfriend.
The verb consists of the adjective 'fremd' (foreign/strange) and the verb 'gehen' (to go). So the literal meaning is to 'go' to a 'strange' person, that is, outside one's own relationship.
Der Gedanke, fremdzugehen, kam ihr nie in den Sinn.
The thought of cheating never crossed her mind.
Since the base verb 'gehen' (to go) expresses movement, the perfect tense of 'fremdgehen' (to cheat) is always formed with the auxiliary verb 'sein' (to be). So it is 'er ist fremdgegangen' (he cheated).
Sie hat ihn verlassen, weil er fremdgegangen ist.
She left him because he cheated.
The person someone is unfaithful with is introduced with the preposition 'mit' (with) and the dative. However, the verb can also be used without this information.
Er ist mit seiner Arbeitskollegin fremdgegangen.
He cheated with his colleague from work.
affair
'die Affäre' and 'fremdgehen' both belong to the topic of infidelity in a relationship. 'die Affäre' is a noun and refers to the secret relationship or affair. 'fremdgehen' is a verb and describes the action: someone is unfaithful to their partner. Learners may confuse the words because they occur in the same situation. You can say: a person 'geht fremd' (cheats), and an 'Affäre' (affair) can come out of that.
Sofia geht nicht fremd, sondern spricht offen mit ihrem Partner über Probleme.
Sofia is not cheating; instead, she talks openly with her partner about problems.
Wir sprechen nicht gern über die Affäre, weil sie viele verletzt hat.
We don't like talking about the affair because it hurt many people.