Breakdown of Niemand darf sauber bleiben, denn wir laufen durch den Schlamm hindurch!
wir
we
bleiben
to stay
dürfen
to be allowed to, may
denn
because
Questions & Answers about Niemand darf sauber bleiben, denn wir laufen durch den Schlamm hindurch!
We already have durch (through) in this sentence. Why do we also need hindurch at the end?
You will often see durch and hindurch paired together. While durch den Schlamm already means "through the mud", adding hindurch at the end emphasizes the continuous motion from one side all the way to the other. The hin- prefix specifically shows that this motion is directed away from the speaker's starting point.
Since denn means "because", why doesn't it push the verb laufen to the end of the sentence?
Unlike weil, which is a subordinating conjunction that pushes the conjugated verb to the very end, denn is a coordinating conjunction. This means it occupies "position zero" in the clause, and the normal word order applies right after it: subject (wir) followed immediately by the verb (laufen).
Why use darf here instead of kann?
The verb dürfen (conjugated here as darf) means "to be allowed to." Combined with niemand (nobody), it translates to "nobody is allowed to" or "nobody has permission to." If you used kann, it would mean "nobody is physically able to stay clean," which completely changes the feeling of the sentence!
Why is it den Schlamm instead of der Schlamm or dem Schlamm?