Modal verbs in German
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Find a teacherIn German as well as in the English language, there are a group of verbs named modal verbs or modal auxiliaries. Modal verbs give more information about the main verb in a sentence. They describe the main verb in a range of possibility (may) to necessity (to have to). Therefore, the content of the sentence changes, if you are switching the modal verbs.There are six modal auxiliaries in the German language.
modal verb | explanation | usage | example |
---|---|---|---|
können | to be able to, can (ability) | Fähigkeiten/ Möglichkeiten | Ich kann Auto fahren. |
müssen | to have to, must (necessity) | Pflicht/ Notwendigkeit | Ich muss arbeiten. |
dürfen | to be allowed to, may (permission) | Erlaubnis | Ich darf früher nach Hause. |
sollen | to be supposed to, should (obligation) | Pflicht | Ich soll mein Zimmer aufräumen. |
wollen | to want to (intention) | Wunsch/ Absicht | Ich will verreisen. |
mögen | to like to (inclination), may (possibility) | Zuneigung | Ich mag das Reiten. |
The conjugation of modal verbs is irregular in the present tense singular, due to the fact that there are no endings in the first and third person. The plural forms are regular. Pay attention to the vowel change of modal verbs in the plural.
können | müssen | dürfen | sollen | wollen | mögen | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ich | kann | muss | darf | soll | will | mag |
du | kannst | musst | darfst | sollst | willst | magst |
er/ sie/ es | kann | muss | darf | soll | will | mag |
wir | können | müssen | dürfen | sollen | wollen | mögen |
ihr | könnt | müsst | dürft | sollt | wollt | mögt |
sie/ Sie | können | müssen | dürfen | sollen | wollen | mögen |
The next sentences show you the usage of modal verbs in present tense
There is no vowel change in the simple past, but the irregularity of the first and third person singular is existing,too.
können | müssen | dürfen | sollen | wollen | mögen | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ich | konnte | musste | durfte | sollte | wollte | mochte |
du | konntest | musstest | durftest | solltest | wolltest | mochtest |
er/ sie/ es | konnte | musste | durfte | sollte | wollte | mochte |
wir | konnten | mussten | durften | sollten | wollten | mochten |
ihr | konntet | musstet | durftet | solltet | wolltet | mochtet |
sie/ Sie | konnten | mussten | durften | sollten | wollten | mochten |
Completing this lesson you should understand the modal verbs and their conjugation. Explore our exercises to train you skills.
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I'm a German language teacher with a Master's degree in German language and literature. Since I was born and lived in Switzerland and grew up in a bilingual family, I speak also Swiss German and Croatian on a native level.
I started to teach German in 2016, to English and Croatian speaking students, but since I love languages I work also as professional translator and became also sworn translator for the German language in the same year.
Now I work as freelance teacher and translator for various companies, also my own company for translation services and German language education that I founded in 2018.
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1 Conjugation of dürfen (to be allowed) in German | This page shows the conjugation of the verbs dürfen. |
2 Conjugation of können (can) in German | List of conjugations of the word German |
3 Conjugation of mögen (to like) in German | This page is about the German verb conjugation of mögen |
4 Conjugation of müssen (to have to) in German | This page contains the conjugation of the verb müssen in all tenses. |
5 Conjugation of sollen (should) in German | All conjugations of the German irregular verb "sollen" |
6 Conjugation of wollen (to want) in German | This page is about the conjugation of the German modal verb wollen. |