Vi må begrave kabelen.

Må is the present tense form of the modal verb å måtte, which means must / have to.

So:

• vi må = we must / we have to
• vi måtte = we had to

In Vi må begrave kabelen, the sentence is talking about a present need or obligation, so må is the correct form.

Because after a modal verb like må, the next verb stays in the infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• vi må + infinitive
• jeg kan + infinitive
• du skal + infinitive

Examples:

• Vi må begrave kabelen = We must bury the cable
• Jeg kan hjelpe = I can help
• Du skal vente = You are going to wait / You must wait

Norwegian does not conjugate the second verb after a modal in this structure.

In Norwegian, the infinitive marker å is normally not used after modal verbs such as:

• må
• kan
• skal
• vil
• bør

So you say:

• Vi må begrave kabelen
• not Vi må å begrave kabelen

You do use å in other contexts, for example:

• Det er viktig å begrave kabelen riktig = It is important to bury the cable correctly

So after må, you leave out å.

Begrave means to bury.

It is often used for burying people, but it can also be understood more generally as put into the ground. In a technical or practical context like a cable, many Norwegians might more naturally say:

• grave ned kabelen = dig the cable down / bury the cable underground

So Vi må begrave kabelen is understandable, but depending on context, Vi må grave ned kabelen may sound more natural.

Kabelen is the definite form, meaning the cable.

In Norwegian, definiteness is usually added as an ending on the noun:

• en kabel = a cable
• kabelen = the cable

So:

• Vi må begrave kabelen = We must bury the cable

If you said Vi må begrave en kabel, that would mean We must bury a cable.

Because kabel is usually a common gender noun in Norwegian.

For common gender nouns, the usual pattern is:

• indefinite singular: en kabel
• definite singular: kabelen

This is very common in Norwegian:

• en bil → bilen
• en stol → stolen
• en kabel → kabelen

So the -en ending marks the.

The basic order is:

subject + finite verb + infinitive + object

So here:

• Vi = subject
• må = finite verb
• begrave = infinitive
• kabelen = object

That gives:

Vi må begrave kabelen

This is a very normal Norwegian sentence pattern.

If you turn it into a question, the finite verb comes first:

• Må vi begrave kabelen? = Must we bury the cable?

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

vee moh beh-GRAH-veh KAH-bel-en

A few helpful notes:

• vi sounds like vee
• må has a long vowel, somewhat like moh
• begrave has the main stress on -gra-
• kabelen is roughly KAH-bel-en

Pronunciation varies a bit by dialect, but that approximation will be understood.

It can mean both.

In English, must can sound stronger or more formal, while have to often sounds more natural in everyday speech. Norwegian må covers both ideas.

So Vi må begrave kabelen could be translated as:

• We must bury the cable
• We have to bury the cable

The best English translation depends on context and tone.

In standard Norwegian, vi means we.

It is the first-person plural subject pronoun, so it includes the speaker and at least one other person.

Examples:

• Vi kommer snart = We are coming soon
• Vi må begrave kabelen = We must bury the cable

Unlike English you, vi is not ambiguous in person. It specifically means we.