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Der Krankenwagen müsste jetzt ankommen, und wir warten darauf.

Der Krankenwagen müsste jetzt ankommen, und wir warten darauf.
The ambulance would have to arrive now, and we are waiting for it.
From Lesson 119:The subjunctive II of modal verbs (könnte, sollte)·German

Questions & Answers about Der Krankenwagen müsste jetzt ankommen, und wir warten darauf.

Why does the sentence use müsste instead of the normal present tense muss?
müsste is the Konjunktiv II form of müssen (must). While muss means "must" or "has to", müsste softens it to mean "ought to" or "should". Here, it expresses a strong expectation: based on the situation, the ambulance should logically be arriving right about now.
ankommen is a separable verb, so why isn't the an separated and put at the end?
Because of the modal verb müsste. Modal verbs always take the second position in the sentence and push the other verb (ankommen) all the way to the end. When a separable verb is pushed to the end by a modal verb, it stays in its full, unseparated dictionary form.
What does darauf mean here, and how is it formed?
darauf translates to "for it". In German, the verb phrase for waiting is warten auf. When you wait for a thing, an action, or an event (rather than a person), you usually combine da + r + auf to make a "da-word" instead of saying "auf es" or "auf ihn".
How is the word Krankenwagen formed?
Like many German nouns, it is a literal and logical compound word. It combines Kranken (sick people) and Wagen (car or wagon). So, an ambulance is literally a "sick-car"!

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