Breakdown of Wir stehen im Stau. Deshalb müssen wir uns beeilen.
wir
we
müssen
to have to, must
stehen
to stand
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
sich beeilen
to hurry
deshalb
therefore / that is why
der Stau
the traffic jam
Questions & Answers about Wir stehen im Stau. Deshalb müssen wir uns beeilen.
Why does the second sentence say Deshalb müssen wir instead of 'Deshalb wir müssen'?
Deshalb (therefore) takes up position 1 in the sentence. Because German strictly requires the conjugated verb in position 2, the verb müssen comes next. The subject wir is then pushed to position 3, right after the verb.
Why do we use stehen (to stand) in the first sentence?
In German, the idiom for being stuck in a traffic jam is im Stau stehen (literally 'to stand in the traffic jam'). It is the standard and most natural way to express that you are stuck in traffic.
What is the word uns doing in the second sentence?
The verb for 'to hurry' is reflexive in German: sich beeilen. You literally say 'we must hurry ourselves'. Because the subject is wir (we), the matching reflexive pronoun is uns (ourselves).
Why is beeilen at the very end of the sentence?
This is due to the modal verb müssen (have to). When you use a modal verb, it acts as the conjugated verb in position 2 and pushes the main action verb (beeilen) all the way to the end of the sentence in its basic dictionary form.
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