Breakdown of Doch, du bist dran und musst eine Karte ziehen.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
du
you (informal singular)
und
and
müssen
to have to, must
doch
yes (contradicting a negative question)
die Karte
the card
dran
one's turn / next (whose turn it is)
ziehen
to draw / to pull
Questions & Answers about Doch, du bist dran und musst eine Karte ziehen.
Why does the sentence start with Doch instead of Ja?
In German, doch is used to contradict a negative statement or question. Since this sentence starts with Doch, we know the other person just said something negative like "It is not my turn!" (Ich bin nicht dran!). You use doch to say "Yes, it is!" or "On the contrary!"
How does du bist dran mean "it's your turn"?
The phrase dran sein is a very common everyday expression that means "to be one's turn". Dran is short for daran (at it). So literally, du bist dran means "you are at it", but you should always translate it as "it's your turn."
Is it okay that there is no du after und?
Yes! Because the subject is the same in both halves of the sentence (du), you don't need to repeat it after und. Saying ... und du musst eine Karte ziehen would also be completely correct, but dropping the repeated subject sounds natural, just like in English.
Why is the verb ziehen at the very end of the sentence?
This is because of the modal verb musst (must / have to). In German, when you use a conjugated modal verb in a normal sentence, the second verb stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form and gets pushed to the very end of the clause.
Does the verb ziehen only mean "to draw" in card games?
It is the standard word for drawing a card, but its main, everyday meaning is "to pull". For example, you will often see ziehen written on doors to tell you to pull them (the opposite is drücken, which means "to push").
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