Deutsch · A1 · verb · 4 minutes
Müssen: present tense
State necessity with a modal bracket and an umlaut-free singular.
Understand the choice
Müssen marks an external or practical necessity. Like other modals it opens a sentence bracket, allowing time, object, and manner information between the conjugated modal and final infinitive.
Core rule: Müssen uses muss- without umlaut in the singular and places the following infinitive at the end.
Notice it in context
Wir müssen jetzt gehen, denn der Zug fährt gleich ab.
We must go now because the train leaves shortly.
Müssen agrees with wir; gehen closes the first clause; fährt…ab is a separate separable verb.
Du musst deinen Pass mitnehmen.
You must take your passport with you.
Musst carries du; separable infinitive mitnehmen stays joined at the end.
Müsst ihr heute lange arbeiten?
Do you have to work late today?
Müsst begins the question; arbeiten is final.
What to remember
- Nicht müssen means do not have to, not must not.
- Must not is usually nicht dürfen.
Common trap: Do not translate “you don’t have to” as du musst nicht with English-style ambiguity; in German this correctly means lack of necessity.