Word
Der Aufzug war kaputt, also mussten wir laufen.
Meaning
The elevator was broken, so we had to walk.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Aufzug war kaputt, also mussten wir laufen.
sein
to be
wir
we
müssen
to have to, must
laufen
to walk / to run (steady pace, jog)
Questions & Answers about Der Aufzug war kaputt, also mussten wir laufen.
Why is also translated as 'so' instead of 'also'?
In German, also is a false friend. It never means 'also' or 'too' (the German words for that are auch or ebenfalls). Instead, also means 'so', 'therefore', or 'thus'.
Why is the word order also mussten wir instead of also wir mussten?
The word also is an adverb that takes up the first position in its clause. In a standard German clause, the conjugated verb must take the second position. Because also is in position 1, the verb mussten stays in position 2, which pushes the subject wir to position 3.
Why use the simple past mussten here instead of the spoken past (Perfekt)?
mussten is the simple past (Präteritum) of the modal verb müssen (to have to). While spoken German usually prefers the spoken past (Perfekt) for normal verbs, it is much more natural and common to use the simple past for modal verbs and the verb sein (as seen earlier with war).
I thought laufen meant 'to run'. Why is it translated as 'to walk'?