Learn German: Warum stehlen die Leute? Sie sollen arbeiten! - Why do people steal? They should work!

The modal verb sollen expresses a duty, expectation, or moral obligation. It translates to "should", "ought to", or "to be supposed to" in English. Here, saying Sie sollen arbeiten! means society expects them to work instead of steal.

Why is arbeiten at the very end of the second sentence?

This is the standard rule for modal verbs like sollen. The modal verb is conjugated to match the subject and takes the second position, while the main action verb (arbeiten) gets pushed to the very end in its basic infinitive form.

How do we know Sie means "they" and not the formal "you"?

Context is the key here. Because the first sentence asks about die Leute (the people), the pronoun Sie in the next sentence naturally refers back to them. Both "they" and the formal "you" share the exact same verb conjugation, so you have to look at the surrounding sentences to know which one makes sense.

Is Leute always a plural word?

Yes, Leute means "people" and is always a plural noun in German. Because it is plural, it takes the plural forms of the verbs used in this sentence: stehlen and sollen.