Learn Swedish: Du måste tvätta cykeln nu. - You must wash the bicycle now.

The word for a bicycle is en cykel. Normally, to say "the", we add -en to the end of an en-word. However, for words ending in an unstressed -el, -er, or -en, we drop the extra e from the ending to make it easier to say. So cykel + -en becomes cykeln.

Why is the verb tvätta used here instead of the present tense tvättar?

Tvätta (to wash) is in the infinitive (dictionary) form. We use this base form because it comes directly after måste (must). Måste is a helping verb, and just like in English, helping verbs are followed by the infinitive form without any extra endings.

Can måste also mean "have to"?

Yes! In Swedish, måste translates to both "must" and "have to". You could translate this sentence as "You have to wash the bike now" and it would mean exactly the same thing.

Is the word order here exactly the same as in English?

In this specific sentence, yes! It follows the exact same pattern: Du (You) måste (must) tvätta (wash) cykeln (the bicycle) nu (now). Time words like nu usually go at the very end of a standard sentence like this.