Breakdown of Ihr müsst draußen bleiben.
ihr
you (informal plural)
draußen
outside
müssen
to have to, must
bleiben
to stay
Questions & Answers about Ihr müsst draußen bleiben.
Who exactly is ihr in this sentence?
Why is the verb müsst instead of müssen?
Müsst is the conjugated form of the modal verb müssen (to have to / must) that goes with ihr. Notice that for the plural ihr, the verb keeps its umlaut (the two dots over the u), unlike the singular forms such as ich muss or du musst.
The translation says "have to", but doesn't müssen mean "must"?
It means both! In English, "must" can sound very strict, bossy, or formal, so we usually say "have to" in daily life. In German, müssen is just the normal, everyday word for both "must" and "have to".
Why is bleiben (to stay) all the way at the very end of the sentence?
This is the golden rule of German modal verbs! The modal verb (müsst) takes the second position in the sentence. The main action verb (bleiben) gets pushed all the way to the end in its basic, unchanged dictionary form (the infinitive).
What is the difference between aus and draußen?
While both relate to being "out", aus is generally used for movement or origin (like coming out of a room). Draußen describes a fixed location, meaning "outside" or "outdoors". Because the people in this sentence are staying in one place outside, we use draußen.
Learn Ihr müsst draußen bleiben and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free