"What must we do?"

Translation: מה עלינו לעשות?

[AniKelly69]

Okay, so this doesn't match the hints at all. Can someone explain this please?

[bar_an]

the word עלינו can be used to say that we have a task "on us" that we need to do. For example the sentence "we need to go" can be translated to "עלינו ללכת".

[AniKelly69]

I understand that, but it should be something we learned already or it should be reflected in the hints.

[Lisa_Schneider]

I agree. This is really confusing.

[ain15412]

I wonder, shall the word order be strict here and shouldn't "מה לעשות עלינו" be equally acceptable?

[TalGlobus]

That sounds more like "What is to be done to us" but it's an unnatural construction to my ears

[71wI]

where did we learn this concept?

[XeroStomus1]

מָה עָלֵינוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת?

[gsazbon]

For stressing the must won't be better to say: מה אנו חייבים...? Is it possible that מה עלינו לעשות conveys more the idea of what can we do?

[GabeGewurt]

shouldn't must "צריך" be included in the translation?

[B.7C8M]

Why can't we say למה לא לעשים

[Alex365982]

What is the grammar behind using the word לעשות? Would "מה עלינו לעשים" be acceptable?

[Agatha229532]

"La'asot" is an infinitive, "to do". Literally: "What (is ) - on us - to do".

[Agatha229532]

This construction is similar to Russian: что нам делать