Breakdown of Wir müssen dringend reden über die verheerende Hitzewelle.
wir
we
müssen
to have to, must
über
about (a topic)
reden
to talk
Questions & Answers about Wir müssen dringend reden über die verheerende Hitzewelle.
Wait, shouldn't the infinitive reden go at the very end of the sentence?
According to standard written grammar, yes: Wir müssen dringend über die verheerende Hitzewelle reden. However, in spoken German, speakers often place long prepositional phrases after the final verb. This position is called the Nachfeld (afterfield). It is used to add an afterthought or to emphasize the phrase—in this case, putting heavy focus on the heatwave itself.
Where does the word verheerende (devastating) come from?
It is built from the verb verheeren (to devastate). By adding -d to the infinitive, you create the present participle verheerend (devastating), which acts just like a normal adjective. Because it follows the feminine accusative article die, it takes the ending -e.
Why does über take the accusative case here (die Hitzewelle) instead of the dative?
über is a two-way preposition, which usually switches between dative for location and accusative for motion. But when it is used abstractly to mean "about"—such as with the verb reden (to talk)—it always requires the accusative case, regardless of location.
Is dringend (urgently) related to a specific verb?