Breakdown of Das ist eine irrationale Sorge, darüber müssen wir nicht streiten.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
wir
we
nicht
not
müssen
to have to, must
die Sorge
the worry
darüber
about it, over it
streiten
to argue
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
irrational
irrational
Questions & Answers about Das ist eine irrationale Sorge, darüber müssen wir nicht streiten.
Why does irrational use the prefix ir- instead of the standard German un- or the base Latin prefix in-?
Rational is a loanword from Latin. Words of Latin origin usually take Latin negation prefixes rather than the native German un-. The base Latin prefix is in-, but when it attaches to a word starting with 'r', it assimilates and becomes ir- to make pronunciation easier, exactly like in English.
Why does irrationale end in an -e here?
It is modifying the feminine noun Sorge in the nominative case. After the indefinite article eine, the adjective must take the mixed declension ending -e.
What exactly does darüber refer back to in this sentence?
Darüber combines da- (there) and über (about). It points back to the first half of the sentence, replacing the need to say über diese Sorge (about this worry). Using a da- compound is the standard German way to say 'about it' when referring to a thing or an idea rather than a person.
The English translation says 'do not need to', but the German uses müssen wir nicht. Doesn't nicht müssen mean 'must not'?
This is a classic false friend! In German, negating müssen simply removes the obligation, meaning 'do not have to' or 'do not need to'. If you wanted to express a strict prohibition like the English 'must not', you would have to use the verb dürfen negated, as in wir dürfen nicht streiten (we must not argue).
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