Some time ago, I met for coffee with my colleague from Germany, whom I met on a student exchange. We are both interested in learning languages and our conversation turned to the differences between Polish and German. I told him that modal verbs in German involve a common language mistake that many of my students make, and that I myself struggled with at the beginning of my adventure in learning German.
The problem is that German sentences like “Can I sit here?”, “Can I open the window?” are not formed with the verb können (can), but with dürfen (have permission). Many people make this mistake, saying, for example: “Kann ich hier sitzen?” instead of “Darf ich hier sitzen?“. My colleague then laughed and said that this is not a problem encountered only by German learners. It turned out that many Germans also speak this way!
Although in practice many people say this, theoretically it is not correct. From my colleague’s stories, it emerged that this mistake is often reproached by teachers. There even arose a well-known and hated joke about it by students: when children at school ask “Kann ich auf die Toilette gehen?” (Can I go to the toilet?) the teachers’ favorite response is “Ich weiß nicht, ob du kannst, aber du darfst.” (“I don’t know if you can, but you have permission to do so.”)
Modal verbs introduce different nuances and add additional meaning to other verbs in a sentence. In German, as in other languages, they are an important element that you should become familiar with at the beginning of your learning. In this article I will explain all the issues related to modal verbs. Let’s get started!
What are modal verbs in German?
Modal verbs (die Modalverben) modulate the meaning of other verbs in a sentence – this is where their name comes from. They require the accompaniment of another verb, which should be at the end of the sentence. The basic meanings of modal verbs allow us to accurately express various intentions, possibilities, needs, imperatives or abilities. They also have an additional function – determining levels of probability – but we’ll talk about that at the very end!
In German we have 6 modal verbs:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| müssen | must / have to |
| sollen | should |
| wollen | want |
| dürfen | may |
| mögen | like |
| können | can |
Modal verbs occur second in a sentence and modulate the meaning of another verb. See the following examples:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Ich muss einkaufen gehen. | I must shopping. |
| Ich mag einkaufen gehen. | I like to go shopping. |
| Ich soll einkaufen gehen. | I should go shopping. |
Modal verbs in German – meaning and conjugation
Modal verbs conjugate irregularly, so you need to learn them by heart. Note that the first and third person singular of all modal verbs are always the same!
| müssen | sollen | wollen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | muss | soll | will |
| du | musst | sollst | willst |
| er/sie/es | muss | soll | will |
| wir | müssen | sollen | willen |
| ihr | müsst | sollte | wollt |
| sie | müssen | sollen | willen |
| dürfen | mögen | möchten | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | darf | mag | möchte |
| du | darfst | magst | möchtest |
| er/sie/es | darf | mag | möchte |
| wir | dürfen | mögen | möchten |
| ihr | dürft | mögt | möchtet |
| sie | dürfen | mögen | möchten |
How to build sentences with modal verbs
The key rule for sentence construction in German is: The verb always comes second. This is important to remember when you form sentences with modal verbs in all tenses.
| Ich muss mein Zimmer aufräumen. | I have to clean my room. |
| Ich musste mein Zimmer aufräumen. | I had to clean my room. |
| Ich habe mein Zimmer aufräumen müssen. | I had to clean my room. |
Determining probability with modal verbs
Modal verbs also have another role. They make it possible to determine the probability of events. In this case, modal verbs are only used to express our suppositions, i.e. they are not used in their primary meaning.
| Er muss krank sein, weil er nicht zur Schule gekommen ist. | He must be ill because he didn’t come to school. |
| Sie dürften schon angekommen sein. | They should have already arrived. |
| Sie kann schon zu Hause sein, da sie ihren Schlüssel hat. | She may already be at home as she has her key. |
How to learn modal verbs?
You’ve already learned all the modal verbs and their conjugations, and you’re probably wondering how best to remember it all. Try the method of learning with whole sentences. I’ve already explained what it consists of and why it’s the best method. The tables shown above are helpful during the initial stages of learning to visualize the verb variety patterns. However, I have not posted them here so that you learn them by heart from top to bottom! It’s hard to achieve linguistic fluency if you have to take breaks during conversation to remember what the table looked like and think about the correct form.
Learning with sentences comes to the rescue! Together with the Taalhammer team, we discussed and tested various methods of language learning for a long time. Learning with whole sentences turned out to be undoubtedly the most effective, so we based our app on it. When learning whole sentences, what happens is that our brain starts optimizing certain things for itself and recognizing certain patterns. Just like in the native language, we are able to say whether something sounds good or not without having any idea what rule is behind it. To learn modal verbs, create sentences in each person. It’s good if these sentences talk about things or situations you understand or, better yet, that interest you. You can create your own fiches: paper ones or in our app. Repeat them regularly and you will see for yourself how effectively you can learn a language this way. For more tips on learning German, check out this article.
How can the Taalhammer app help you with learning modal verbs?
You have already learned all the theory about modal verbs in German. Now it’s time to master them in practice. Try our German language course. There’s even more material waiting for you in the app: ready-made collections with example sentences, audios with the vocabulary you’re currently learning, and much more. What’s more, you will also have the opportunity to create your own content. Create your own sentences with modal verbs, save them in our app and repeat with an algorithm tailored to your needs. Start learning German today and enjoy quick results. Good luck!
