Wir sollen den Text nicht abschreiben.

We should not copy the text.

Breakdown of Wir sollen den Text nicht abschreiben.

• wir: we
• nicht: not
• sollen: should
• den: the; (masculine, accusative)

Questions & Answers about Wir sollen den Text nicht abschreiben.

Why is sollen the second word in the sentence?

Because German main clauses normally follow the verb-second rule: the finite verb goes in position 2.

Here, sollen is the finite verb:

• Wir = subject
• sollen = finite verb
• den Text nicht abschreiben = the rest of the clause

So:

• Wir sollen den Text nicht abschreiben.

This is very normal German word order.

What does sollen mean here?

Sollen is a modal verb. In this sentence, it usually expresses an instruction, expectation, or obligation coming from someone else.

So wir sollen ... often means something like:

• we are supposed to ...
• we should ...
• we have been told to ...

It is different from a simple future meaning. Here it is not like English shall in modern formal English.

Why is abschreiben at the end?