Wir treffen uns morgen früh, aber sei vorsichtig, der Sturm kann zurückkehren.

We will meet tomorrow morning, but be careful, the storm can return.

Breakdown of Wir treffen uns morgen früh, aber sei vorsichtig, der Sturm kann zurückkehren.

• sein: to be
• wir: we
• aber: but
• können: can
• vorsichtig: careful
• uns: us
• treffen: to meet
• der Sturm: the storm
• morgen früh: tomorrow morning
• zurückkehren: to return

Questions & Answers about Wir treffen uns morgen früh, aber sei vorsichtig, der Sturm kann zurückkehren.

Why is there uns after treffen in Wir treffen uns morgen früh?

In German, treffen can be either:

• transitive: Ich treffe dich (I meet you), or
• reflexive (sich treffen): Wir treffen uns (we meet each other).

When you want to say that people are meeting up with one another, you use the reflexive form and include the appropriate pronoun—in this case uns for wir.

Why is uns placed before morgen früh? Could I say Wir treffen morgen früh uns?

German word order in the so‑called middle field generally follows a hierarchy:

1. Personal pronouns (e.g. uns)
2. Time adverbials (e.g. morgen früh)
3. Place adverbials, etc.

So the natural order is Wir treffen uns morgen früh.
Putting uns after morgen früh (Wir treffen morgen früh uns) is grammatically possible but sounds awkward to native speakers.

What exactly does morgen früh mean, and are there other ways to say “tomorrow morning”?

• morgen früh literally means early tomorrow (i.e. tomorrow morning).
• Alternative expressions:
  
  • früh am Morgen (a bit more formal)
  • frühmorgens (somewhat bookish)
• früh morgen is rarely used—stick to morgen früh or früh am Morgen for clarity.

Why are there commas both before aber and after sei vorsichtig?

1. Comma after sei vorsichtig

   • You have two independent clauses without a conjunction:
     Sei vorsichtig, der Sturm kann zurückkehren.
   • German requires a comma between two main clauses if there’s no coordinating conjunction.

2. Comma before aber

   • aber is a coordinating conjunction and normally does not require a comma.
   • However, many writers insert one for emphasis or a stronger pause:
     Wir treffen uns morgen früh, aber sei vorsichtig …
   • Strict rule: you may omit the comma before aber, but you must keep the one after sei vorsichtig.

Why is the verb sein in its imperative form sei here?

The du‑imperative of sein is irregular. The form is:

• sei (not bist)
  So Sei vorsichtig! means Be careful!
  Other du‑imperative examples:
• geh (from gehen)
• iss (from essen)

Why is vorsichtig not inflected with an ending like adjectives usually are?

vorsichtig here is used predicatively after the imperative sei:

• Predicative adjectives do not take endings (they remain in the weak/basic form)
• In contrast, attributive adjectives before a noun would be inflected:
  ein vorsichtiger Fahrer (a careful driver)

Why is kann zurückkehren ordered with kann before and zurückkehren at the end?

This follows two German word‑order rules:

1. Verb‑second (V2): In a main clause, the finite (conjugated) verb (kann) is in second position.

2. Modal verbs: The main verb in its infinitive (zurückkehren) moves to the end of the clause.

   So: Der Sturm (subject) → kann (finite/modal) → … → zurückkehren (infinitive).

How does the separable prefix zurück behave in zurückkehren?

• In the infinitive, the prefix stays attached: zurückkehren (“to return”).
• In finite forms, the prefix detaches and moves to the end of the clause:
  Er kehrt zurück (“He returns”).
• With a modal verb, you use the full infinitive (zurückkehren) at the end.