……
Breakdown of Wir müssen uns beeilen, sonst verpassen wir den letzten Bus.
wir
we
müssen
must
der Bus
the bus
sonst
otherwise
uns
ourselves
den
the; (masculine, accusative)
verpassen
to miss
letzte
last
sich beeilen
to hurry
Questions & Answers about Wir müssen uns beeilen, sonst verpassen wir den letzten Bus.
Why is uns used in Wir müssen uns beeilen?
Because sich beeilen is a reflexive verb in German, meaning “to hurry oneself.” When the subject is wir, the corresponding reflexive pronoun is uns, so you say uns beeilen.
Why does beeilen appear at the end of the clause with müssen?
Because müssen is a modal verb, and in German main clauses the full infinitive (here beeilen) goes to the very end when a modal verb is used.
What role does sonst play in …, sonst verpassen wir den letzten Bus?
sonst means “otherwise” and functions as an adverbial (coordinating) conjunction. It links two main clauses without affecting the usual verb-second word order, so verpassen stays in second position.
Could I replace sonst with andernfalls?
Yes. andernfalls is a more formal synonym of sonst. You’d say Wir müssen uns beeilen, andernfalls verpassen wir den letzten Bus. The word order remains the same.
Why is den letzten Bus in the accusative case?
Because the verb verpassen requires a direct object in the accusative. Whatever you “miss” is put into the accusative, hence den letzten Bus.
Why is wir repeated in the second clause? Can it be omitted?
In German you normally include the subject pronoun in each main clause. You cannot drop wir as in English, so you need …, sonst verpassen wir … rather than omitting wir.
How would I give a command to hurry up in German?
Use the imperative of the reflexive verb sich beeilen:
- Informal singular: Beeil dich!
- Informal plural: Beeilt euch!
- Formal (singular or plural): Beeilen Sie sich!
Why is Bus capitalized but letzten is not?
In German all nouns are capitalized (hence Bus), whereas adjectives like letzten remain lowercase unless they start a sentence.
More from this lesson
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How do German cases work?”
German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning GermanMaster German — from Wir müssen uns beeilen, sonst verpassen wir den letzten Bus to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions