Tu dois te dépêcher pour attraper le bus, sinon tu vas être en retard au bureau.

Tu is the informal singular word for you. It is used with friends, family, children, or people you know well.

Vous would be used:

• for one person in a formal situation
• or for you all

So this sentence sounds like someone speaking casually to one person: Tu dois te dépêcher...

Dois is the tu form of the verb devoir, which often means:

• must
• have to
• should (depending on context)

In this sentence, tu dois means you have to / you must.

Conjugation of devoir in the present:

• je dois
• tu dois
• il/elle doit
• nous devons
• vous devez
• ils/elles doivent

So tu dois matches tu.

Because se dépêcher is a reflexive verb, meaning to hurry up.

The full infinitive is:

• se dépêcher = to hurry up

When used with tu, se becomes te:

• tu dois te dépêcher

Other forms:

• je dois me dépêcher
• il doit se dépêcher
• nous devons nous dépêcher

French often uses reflexive verbs where English does not.

Because devoir is a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive.

Pattern:

• devoir + infinitive

Examples:

• Tu dois partir. = You have to leave.
• Tu dois attendre. = You have to wait.
• Tu dois te dépêcher. = You have to hurry up.

Only the first verb (devoir) is conjugated here. The second verb stays in the infinitive form.

Here pour means in order to or to.

So:

• pour attraper le bus = to catch the bus / in order to catch the bus

This is a very common French structure:

• pour + infinitive

Examples:

• Je viens pour aider. = I’m coming to help.
• Il travaille pour gagner de l’argent. = He works to earn money.

Le bus usually means the bus in a specific, understood sense — the bus you need to take.

French often uses the definite article where English might say:

• catch the bus
• take the bus

If you said un bus, it would sound more like a bus, any bus, not a specific one.

So in this context, le bus is the natural choice.

Sinon means otherwise or if not.

In this sentence:

• sinon tu vas être en retard = otherwise you’re going to be late

It introduces the consequence if the first action does not happen.

Examples:

• Dépêche-toi, sinon on part sans toi. = Hurry up, otherwise we’ll leave without you.
• Étudie, sinon tu vas échouer. = Study, otherwise you’re going to fail.

Tu vas être is the near future: literally you are going to be.

Structure:

• aller + infinitive

Here:

• tu vas être = you’re going to be

French often uses this form, especially in everyday speech, to talk about something expected soon.

You could also say:

• tu seras en retard au bureau

That is the simple future and also correct. The difference is mainly one of style and tone:

• tu vas être sounds very natural and immediate
• tu seras can sound a bit more neutral or formal depending on context

En retard is a fixed expression meaning late.

So:

• être en retard = to be late

Examples:

• Je suis en retard. = I’m late.
• Nous sommes en retard. = We are late.

You should learn it as a whole chunk.

Note:

• retardé does not mean late in this context and should not be used here.

Because à + le contracts to au.

So:

• à le bureau becomes au bureau

This is a standard French contraction:

• à + le = au
• à + les = aux
• de + le = du
• de + les = des

So:

• être en retard au bureau = to be late to/at the office

Because au bureau refers to the place: at the office or to the office, depending on context.

With être en retard, French commonly uses:

• être en retard à / au / pour...

In this sentence, au bureau means the place where you are expected to be.

So:

• être en retard au bureau = to be late for work / late to the office

French and English do not always match word for word here.

Yes.

• Tu dois te dépêcher = You must / have to hurry up
• Tu devrais te dépêcher = You should hurry up

So dois expresses stronger necessity than devrais.

In this sentence, the speaker is not just giving mild advice; they are saying it is necessary if the person wants to catch the bus.

You would usually change tu to vous:

Vous devez vous dépêcher pour attraper le bus, sinon vous allez être en retard au bureau.

Changes:

• tu → vous
• dois → devez
• te → vous
• vas → allez

Everything else stays the same.

In normal speech, te is often pronounced very lightly.

Roughly:

• Tu dois te dépêcher → ty dwa tə de-pe-shay

But in fast spoken French, the e in te may weaken or almost disappear.

A few pronunciation notes:

• tu sounds like ty
• dois sounds like dwa
• dépêcher ends with an ay sound: de-pe-shay
• être sounds like etr
• retard ends with a silent d

Listening practice is especially useful for this sentence because spoken French often links words smoothly together.

Yes. A very common alternative is prendre.

For example:

• Tu dois te dépêcher pour prendre le bus...

Both are possible, but they are slightly different:

• attraper le bus = catch the bus
• prendre le bus = take the bus

In this context, attraper emphasizes getting there in time before it leaves, so it fits very well.