Word
Laut der Polizei muss jemand letzte Nacht eingebrochen sein.
Meaning
According to the police, someone must have broken in last night.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Laut der Polizei muss jemand letzte Nacht eingebrochen sein.
sein
to be
müssen
to have to, must
jemand
someone
die Nacht
the night
Questions & Answers about Laut der Polizei muss jemand letzte Nacht eingebrochen sein.
How does the phrase muss ... eingebrochen sein express the past tense here?
This is a subjective modal used for a past assumption. We use the present tense of the modal verb (muss) together with the Perfekt infinitive of the action verb (eingebrochen sein). This structure translates to 'must have broken in' and expresses a very strong assumption about an event that has already happened.
Why is the helping verb at the end sein instead of haben?
The Perfekt infinitive always uses the same helping verb that the main verb would use in the normal Perfekt tense. Because einbrechen (to break in) implies a change of state or location, it forms its past with sein (for example, jemand ist eingebrochen). Therefore, its Perfekt infinitive must be eingebrochen sein.
What case does the preposition laut take in laut der Polizei?
The preposition laut (according to) can take either the dative or the genitive case. Because Polizei is a feminine noun, der Polizei happens to be the correct form for both the dative and the genitive case, meaning it is perfectly correct either way.
Why is letzte Nacht used without a preposition like 'in' or 'an'?