Breakdown of Ihr müsst euch sofort abtrocknen!
ihr
you (informal plural)
euch
you (plural, informal)
müssen
to have to, must
sofort
immediately
sich abtrocknen
to dry oneself
Questions & Answers about Ihr müsst euch sofort abtrocknen!
Why is euch used in this sentence?
The subject of the sentence is ihr (you, plural informal). The verb sich abtrocknen (to dry oneself) is reflexive here, meaning the action reflects back on the subject. euch is the accusative reflexive pronoun that exactly matches ihr, translating to "yourselves".
I thought abtrocknen was a separable verb. Why hasn't ab moved to the end?
You are right that abtrocknen is a separable verb! However, this sentence uses the conjugated modal verb müsst (have to). A modal verb always pushes the second verb to the very end of the sentence in its full infinitive form. When a separable verb sits at the end as an infinitive, its prefix stays attached.
Does abtrocknen always need a reflexive pronoun?
Not always! It depends on what is being dried. Because you are drying yourselves, it is reflexive and needs euch. If you were drying an object instead, like the dishes (die Teller), you would drop the reflexive pronoun and just use it as a normal verb: Ihr müsst die Teller abtrocknen.
Why does euch come before the time word sofort?
In German sentence structure, pronouns are very "light" and tend to move as close to the conjugated verb (müsst) as possible. Because of this rule, the reflexive pronoun euch will almost always step in front of a regular adverb like sofort.
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