Jeg må skynde mig, hvis jeg vil komme til tiden.

I

Breakdown of Jeg må skynde mig, hvis jeg vil komme til tiden.

• ville: to want
• hvis: if
• måtte: to have to

Questions & Answers about Jeg må skynde mig, hvis jeg vil komme til tiden.

What does må mean here? Does it mean may?

In this sentence, må means must / have to, not may.

That is a very common point of confusion for English speakers. Danish må can sometimes be related to permission, but in sentences like this one it usually expresses necessity:

• Jeg må skynde mig = I must hurry
• Du må gå nu can mean You may go now or You must go now, depending on context

So here, må is best understood as a modal verb showing necessity.

Why is it skynde mig and not just skynde?

Because at skynde sig is a reflexive verb in Danish.

That means the verb normally goes together with a reflexive pronoun:

• jeg skynder mig = I hurry
• du skynder dig = you hurry
• han skynder sig = he hurries

So mig is not optional here. Danish says, literally, something like I hurry myself, even though English simply says I hurry or I hurry up.

Why is the pronoun mig used?