Is 得弄 one word or two in 首先得弄清楚我们需要什么?

Question

I have 首先得弄清楚我们需要什么。

I see 得弄清楚 is a fairly common combination of words. Is 得弄 one word or 2 words here? Should I read de nong or dei nong?

Should I translate the sentence to

1. 'First we need to find out what we need.', or rather
2. 'First we should be clear about what we need.', or
3. 'First we should make clear about what we need.'

Which of 1,2 or 3 do you prefer, or would you rather suggest something else?

I found this sentence: 希尔得弄个清楚。= Hill had to find out for certain.

Answer 1

• 得 : got to / must / have to ABC must / need / should be

• 弄清楚 : ABC make clear; figure out

得 is read děi when it means must/have to/need to.

I would translate 首先得弄清楚我们需要什么。 as:

We first need to figure out what we need.

Answer 2

2 words.
in this case, 得=have to, 弄=make
example:
1.我们首先得吃饭.(we have to eat first)
2.我要把这个问题弄清楚.(I gonna make this problem clear)

and the pronunciation is "dei nong"
translation 1 is what I prefer, but 2 and 3 are also acceptable.

Answer 3

得弄, are neither one word nor two words because they are not to be read together.

The sentence structure is:-

首先, (first and foremost),得弄清楚, (decide / work out clearly), 我们需要什么, (what is it we really need)

The sentence works just as well without the 得 as, in my view, it is superfluous.