müssen

Etymology
From, from , from.

The closeness to the original diphthong can for example still be seen in the Bavarian first and third person singular, where one says I muas (I must) or Ea/Si/Es muas (He/she/it must).

Verb

 * 1)  to have to (do something); must; to be obliged (to do something); to need (to do something).
 * 2)  to have to do something implied; must; to be obliged.
 * 3)  to need to go to the bathroom.
 * 1)  to have to do something implied; must; to be obliged.
 * 2)  to need to go to the bathroom.
 * 1)  to need to go to the bathroom.
 * 1)  to need to go to the bathroom.
 * 1)  to need to go to the bathroom.

Usage notes

 * can express the necessity of doing something, but also the moral duty. expresses moral duty or the suggestion that something ought to be done. Both verbs can express a duty imposed by someone else. In this case müssen is stronger than sollen, implying that the imposing person has some kind of power to make the other really do it.
 * As shown in the first line, the infinitive is used instead of the past participle in the compound tenses if the verb has a complement verb. The phenomenon is called double infinitive.
 * Das hätten wir machen müssen.
 * We should have done that.


 * In southern German and Austrian speech, the infinitive is often used instead of the past participle in any construction. Thus: ich habe nicht müssen for standard ich habe nicht gemusst.
 * As shown in the example above, translates into English as “need not” rather than “must not”. For the English “must not”, use.
 * Before 1996, several of the conjugated forms of were spelled with an  (that is,, , , etc.). Since the spelling reform of 1996, however, the acceptable spelling is with.