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Learn Hardcore German: Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen. - We have to continue now.

Hardcore German
/Lesson 63
/Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.

Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.

Word

Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.

Meaning

We have to continue now.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore German

Lesson

Breakdown of Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.

Questions & Answers about Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.

What exactly does müssen mean here? Is it more like must or have to in English?

Müssen is a modal verb expressing necessity or obligation.

In English, it can correspond to both must and have to:
- Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.
  → We must continue now.
  → We have to keep going now.

Nuance:

In everyday speech, müssen is usually felt like English have to (a practical or external necessity).
It can be quite strong, but context and tone can soften it. It doesn’t always sound as strict as You must… sometimes does in English.

Why is it müssen and not mussen? When do I use the umlaut ü?

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The verb’s infinitive is müssen with ü. The umlaut is part of the verb stem and does not disappear in any form.

Present tense forms:

ich muss (no ü in the ich form)
du musst
er/sie/es muss
wir müssen
ihr müsst
sie/Sie müssen

So in the sentence:

wir → subject (1st person plural)
müssen → verb form matching wir

Spelling rule for this verb:

Infinitive and plural forms: müssen
Singular ich/du/er/sie/es: muss / musst (without ü, just u)

Why is müssen in the second position and weitermachen at the end of the sentence?

German main clauses follow the “verb-second” (V2) rule:

Position 1: Usually the subject or some other element
→ Here: Wir
Position 2: The conjugated (finite) verb
→ Here: müssen
Middle field: Other elements (time, objects, etc.)
→ Here: jetzt
End of clause: Infinitives and other non-finite verb parts
→ Here: weitermachen

So:

Wir (1st position)
müssen (2nd position, finite verb)
jetzt weitermachen (rest, with the infinitive at the end)

This is why müssen doesn’t move to the end: it’s the finite verb and must be in second position in a normal main clause.

What kind of verb is weitermachen, and what does it literally mean?

Weitermachen is a separable verb formed from:

weiter = further, onward
machen = to do, to make

Together, weitermachen means to continue doing something / to carry on / to keep going.

Because it’s separable:

With a normal conjugated form (no modal verb), it usually splits:
- Wir machen weiter. – We continue.
In the infinitive form (as here, after a modal verb), it appears as one word:
- Wir müssen weitermachen. – We have to continue.

Why is it written weitermachen here and not weiter machen?

In this meaning (“to continue”), weitermachen is treated as one verb (a separable verb), so its infinitive is normally written as one word:

Infinitive: weitermachen
With modal: Wir müssen weitermachen.
With zu: weiterzumachen (prefix + zu
- stem)

You might sometimes see weiter machen written as two words, but for learners it’s safest to treat this as a single separable verb and write:

weitermachen, weiterzumachen, wir machen weiter

Can I change the position of jetzt? For example: Jetzt müssen wir weitermachen?

Yes. Jetzt (now) is quite flexible. Common word orders:

Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.
– Neutral, very normal.
Jetzt müssen wir weitermachen.
– Also very natural; it puts more focus on now as the starting point.

Both are perfectly correct.

Wir müssen weitermachen jetzt. is possible in spoken German for emphasis, but sounds more colloquial and marked. For standard, neutral style, use options 1 or 2.

Is this sentence present tense, and does it refer to now or the future?

Grammatically, it’s present tense (Präsens):

Wir müssen = we have to / we must (now).

However, German Präsens can also refer to the near future, just like English:

Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.
can mean:
- We have to continue right now (immediately), or
- We have to continue from now on / we can’t stop at this point.

Context (tone, situation, surrounding sentences) decides how immediate the obligation feels.

What’s the difference between Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen and Wir sollen jetzt weitermachen?

Both talk about something that “should happen”, but the source and strength of the obligation differ:

müssen = have to / must, strong necessity or obligation
→ Internal or external pressure: rules, deadlines, practical necessity, or strong personal conviction.
Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.
– We (really) have to continue now; stopping is not an option.
sollen = should / are supposed to, weaker, often an obligation given by someone else
→ Expectation or instruction from a third party.
Wir sollen jetzt weitermachen.
– We are supposed to continue now (because someone told us to / it says so).

For “We have to keep going now”, müssen is the natural choice.

Could I say Wir müssen jetzt weitergehen or fortfahren instead of weitermachen?

You can, but the nuance changes slightly:

weitermachen
→ Continue doing what we were doing (an activity, task, project, work, talking, etc.).
Very broad and common.
weitergehen
→ Literally: to go on, to continue walking/moving; also metaphorical “to go on”.
Wir müssen jetzt weitergehen. often suggests physical movement (“We have to move on now”).
fortfahren
→ More formal/literary: to continue, to proceed.
You might hear it in formal speech or writing:
Wir müssen jetzt fortfahren. – We must now proceed/continue.

In most everyday situations (“let’s keep working / keep doing this”), weitermachen is the most natural choice.

Does wir in this sentence always include the speaker, like English we?

Yes. Wir is the normal we in German and always includes the speaker.

Wir müssen jetzt weitermachen.
Means: I (the speaker) and at least one other person have to continue now.

It can be:

Inclusive: speaker + listener(s)
Or: speaker + some third party (not necessarily the person being addressed, if that’s clear from context)

But it never excludes the speaker. If the speaker is not included, German would use sie, ihr, or a different structure, not wir.

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