Breakdown of Die Fliesen müssen im Bad verlegt werden.
das Bad
the bathroom
müssen
to have to, must
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
Questions & Answers about Die Fliesen müssen im Bad verlegt werden.
How does the passive voice work with the modal verb "müssen" in this sentence?
To form the passive with a modal verb in the present tense, you conjugate the modal verb (here, müssen) and put it in the second position. Then, you place the "passive infinitive" at the very end of the sentence. The passive infinitive is simply the past participle of your main action verb (verlegt) followed by the infinitive werden.
Why do we say "verlegt werden" at the end instead of "werden verlegt"?
In German main clauses, the conjugated verb (müssen) pushes the rest of the verb block to the end of the clause. When you have a past participle (verlegt) and an infinitive (werden) stacking up at the end like this, the infinitive always goes last.
I thought "verlegen" meant 'to misplace' or 'to reschedule'. Why is it used here?
Verlegen is a versatile verb. While it commonly means to misplace something (like your keys) or to postpone an appointment, it is also the specific technical verb used for installing flat materials over a surface. You use it for laying tiles (Fliesen), flooring, carpets, or cables.
Why is it "im Bad" (dative) rather than "ins Bad" (accusative) if an action is happening?
Even though an action is happening, the two-way preposition in takes the dative case here (giving us in dem or im) because we are describing a static location where the action takes place (answering Wo? or "Where?"). The laying process is happening entirely within the bathroom, rather than someone carrying the tiles into the bathroom from the outside.