The category of modal verbs occupies a peculiar place among German verbs. For one thing, their conjugation deviates from other verbs in the language. For another, they normally require the existence of a main verb in infinitive form at the end of a sentence. However, they can be of great help when you want to get your spoken German off the ground. I’ll explain why below.
As I mentioned above, the first thing we need to clarify is the conjugation of the modal verbs and of course their exact translation. What all modal verbs have in common is that the first and third person singular share the same ending. This makes them unique among German verbs. There is only one tense where all verbs share this conjugation and that is the Präteritum or imperfect tense in German.
können | müssen | sollen | dürfen | wollen | möchten | mögen | |
ich | kann | muss | soll | darf | will | möchte | mag |
du | kannst | musst | sollst | darfst | willst | möchtest | magst |
er, sie, es, man | kann | muss | soll | darf | will | möchte | mag |
wir | können | müssen | sollen | dürfen | wollen | möchten | mögen |
ihr | könnt | müsst | sollt | dürft | wollt | möchtet | mögt |
sie/Sie | können | müssen | sollen | dürfen | wollen | möchten | mögen |
translation | can, to be able to | need to, have to | should, to be supposed to | may, be allowed to | to want to | would like to | to like |
use | ability, opportunity | necessity | task, suggestion | polite request, permission | intention | wish | preference |
Even though the table above shows seven verbs, strictly speaking the German language only knows six modal verbs because möchten is the subjunctive form (the conditional tense in German) of mögen.
With regard to their use, bear in mind that the German “müssen” should not be confused with the English “must”. Other common causes of confusion are between möchten and mögen, mögen and gern in German and on how to use dürfen in German, which I discuss at length in separate blog posts.
Let’s consider some examples for each of the modal verbs.
Ich kann sehr gut Englisch (sprechen).
(I can speak English very well)
Sie muss ihre Hausaufgaben machen, um ihr Deutsch zu verbessern.
(She needs to do her homework, in order to improve her German)
Soll ich Kaffee kochen?
(Should I make some coffee)
Was darf ich für Sie tun?
(How may I help you, literally: what may I do for you? NB. This is the common customer service phrase in German.)
Er will nächstes Jahr nach Brasilien reisen.
(He wants to travel to Brazil next year)
Ich möchte bitte noch ein Bier.
(I’d like to have another beer)
Wir mögen Bier und Wein.
(We like beer and wine)
What the previous examples show is that modal verbs are easy to use since the main verb is in infinitive form at the end of the sentence. The trick to use when speaking is that you need to send your idea of what you would like to say through a grammar filter that is made up of your modal verb and your main verb. Then consider the subject of your sentence and conjugate your modal verb accordingly, bearing in mind that it need to go second in terms of German word order, unless it's a yes or no question. The final step is to work your way through your sentence with the infinitive form of the main verb as your end point in view. Give it a try- you'll see that you'll find it a lot easier to speak in German.
On our German Language Blog "Auf Deutsch, bitte!", you will find posts on very German things to do, the most beautiful German words, the best German songs to learn German fast, as well as besuchen vs. besichtigen. We also heal your German grammar phobia with our posts explaining adjective ending rules in German, the difference between viel and viele, sehr and viel in German, rules on German genders, German word order, and many other topics. Just scroll through our blog and learn more about the language.
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