to avoid / to shy away
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to avoid
To avoid or steer clear of something out of fear, dislike, or because of the effort involved. Often used in the phrase 'Kosten/Mühen nicht scheuen' (to spare no expense/effort).
Er scheut keine Mühe, um seinen Freunden zu helfen.
He spares no effort to help his friends.
to shy away
To hesitate to do something, often out of shyness, uncertainty, or fear of negative consequences.
Scheuen Sie sich nicht, Fragen zu stellen, wenn etwas unklar ist.
Do not shy away from asking questions if something is unclear.
to shy
Describes the sudden fright reaction of an animal, especially a horse, that is startled by something and jumps to the side or runs away.
Als das Auto hupte, scheute das Pferd und warf den Reiter ab.
When the car honked, the horse shied and threw off the rider.
The verb 'scheuen' (to avoid / to shy away) is closely related to the adjective 'scheu' (shy or timid), which means 'schüchtern' (shy) or 'ängstlich' (fearful). This basic meaning of fear or reluctance appears in all uses of the verb.
Das Reh ist sehr scheu und läuft bei jedem Geräusch weg.
The deer is very shy and runs away at every noise.
The meaning changes depending on the sentence structure. Transitive ('etwas scheuen' — to avoid something) means 'to avoid'. Reflexive ('sich scheuen' — to shy away) means 'to hesitate'. Intransitive (only the subject shies) is used for the fright reaction of animals.
Der Politiker scheut die direkte Konfrontation.
The politician avoids direct confrontation.
The negative expression 'keine Mühen/Kosten/kein Risiko scheuen' (to spare no effort/expense/risk) is especially common. It means that someone is willing to do or invest everything necessary.
Die Firma scheute keine Kosten, um die besten Experten zu engagieren.
The company spared no expense to hire the best experts.
The reflexive form 'sich scheuen' (to shy away) is almost always combined with an infinitive construction with 'zu' (to). It describes which action one hesitates to carry out.
Viele Menschen scheuen sich, vor einer großen Gruppe zu sprechen.
Many people shy away from speaking in front of a large group.
When an animal is startled, the trigger is indicated with the preposition 'vor' (at/by) and the dative.
Die Katze scheute vor dem lauten Knall.
The cat shied at the loud bang.
to avoid
Vermeiden emphasizes that costs or effort are actually not incurred or are avoided. Scheuen, by contrast, describes an unwillingness to take them on. Someone who scheut something may still do it; someone who vermeidet it ensures that it does not happen.
Das kleine Unternehmen scheut die zusätzlichen Kosten der Reise, sagt sie aber nicht ab.
The small company is unwilling to incur the additional costs of the trip, but does not cancel it.
Das kleine Unternehmen sagt die Reise ab, um zusätzliche Kosten zu vermeiden.
The small company cancels the trip to avoid additional costs.
