Vi må identifisere problemet.

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Breakdown of Vi må identifisere problemet.

• må: must
• problemet: the problem
• identifisere: to identify

Questions & Answers about Vi må identifisere problemet.

Why is there no å before identifisere?

Because må is a modal verb. In Norwegian, modal verbs such as må, kan, vil, skal, and bør are normally followed directly by the infinitive, without å.

So you say:

• Vi må identifisere problemet.

Not:

• Vi må å identifisere problemet.

This is similar to English must identify, not must to identify.

What exactly is må here?

Må is the present tense of måtte, which often means must, have to, or need to, depending on context.

In this sentence, it expresses necessity or obligation:

• Vi må identifisere problemet. = We must / have to identify the problem.

A useful thing to remember is that Norwegian often uses the present-tense form må where English might choose either must or have to.

What form is identifisere?

Identifisere is the infinitive form of the verb, meaning to identify.

You can think of it as the dictionary form of the verb:

• å identifisere = to identify

But after må, the å is dropped, so you get:

• må identifisere

This pattern is very common in Norwegian.