Breakdown of Vi må hellere tage hjem.
vi
we
tage
to take / to make (a decision)
hjem
home
måtte hellere
had better
Questions & Answers about Vi må hellere tage hjem.
Why does this sentence use må hellere to mean "had better"?
On its own, må means "must" or "may", and hellere means "rather". Together, må hellere forms a very common Danish phrase meaning "had better" or "should probably". It softens a strict rule into a strong suggestion.
I thought tage meant "to take". Why is it translated as "go"?
While tage generally means "take", Danish frequently uses it to talk about leaving or traveling to a destination. Unless you are specifically traveling by foot (where you would use gå), tage is the most natural verb to use for "going" somewhere, making tage hjem the standard way to say "go home".
Could I use hjemme instead of hjem here?
No, because there is movement involved. In Danish, hjem is used when you are moving toward your home as a destination. You only use hjemme when you are already physically located there without moving, for example, "jeg er hjemme" (I am at home).
Why isn't there an at (to) before tage?
Må is a modal verb. Just like in English where we say "must go" instead of "must to go", Danish modal verbs are followed directly by the dictionary form (infinitive) of the next verb without using at.