kau-fen) – She wants to buy a new car.
dürfen (may/be allowed to): Expresses permission, allowance, or possibility.
Dürfen wir hier sitzen? (dür-fen veer heer zi-tsen) – May we sit here?
Du darfst das nicht tun. (doo darfst das niht tun) – You are not allowed to do that.
sollen (should/be supposed to): Expresses obligation, advice, or a command from someone else. It often indicates what someone is supposed to do, perhaps by order or expectation.
Du sollst mehr lernen. (doo zolst mehr ler-nen) – You should learn more.
Wir sollen pünktlich sein. (veer zo-len pünkt-lihh zain) – We are supposed to be on time. (Perhaps our boss told us this)
möchten (would like): Expresses a polite wish or desire. It’s the subjunctive form of «mögen,» and it’s much more common to use «möchte» than «mögen» when expressing what you want.
Ich möchte einen Kaffee trinken. (ihh möh-te ai-nen kah-fay trin-ken) – I would like to drink a coffee.
Wir möchten ins Kino gehen. (veer möh-ten ins kee-no gay-en) – We would like to go to the cinema.
Important Notes
The modal verb is always conjugated.
The main verb always goes to the end in the infinitive form.
«möchten» is a special form derived from «mögen» and is used for polite requests.
Word Bank
Modalverb (mo-dahl-verp) – Modal verb
können (kö-nen) – can/be able to
müssen (müs-sen) – must/have to
wollen (vo-len) – want to
dürfen (dür-fen) – may/be allowed to
sollen (zo-len) – should/be supposed to
möchten (möh-ten) – would like
sprechen (shpreh-hen) – to speak
machen (mah-hen) – to do
lesen (lay-zen) – to read
parken (par-ken) – to park
sein (zain) – to be
trinken (trin-ken) – to drink
Exercises
Conjugate all six modal verbs in the present tense.
Fill in the blanks with the correct modal verb:
Ich ______ Deutsch lernen. (wollen)
Du ______ pünktlich sein. (sollen)
Wir ______ ins Kino gehen. (möchten)
Er ______ schwimmen. (können)
Sie ______ das nicht tun. (dürfen)
Ihr ______ jetzt gehen. (müssen)
Translate the following sentences into German, using modal verbs:
I want to travel to Germany.
You must do your homework.
We would like to drink coffee.
He can speak English.
They are not allowed to park here.
She should learn more.
That completes Chapter 9! You now understand how to use modal verbs to express a range of meanings.
Chapter 10: Past Tense – Perfekt
The Perfekt is one of the most common ways to express the past tense in German, especially in spoken language. It’s formed using a helping verb («haben» or «sein») and the past participle of the main verb. In this chapter, we’ll learn how to form the Perfekt and when to use it.
Formation of the Perfekt
The Perfekt tense is formed using the following structure:
Subject + haben/sein (conjugated in present tense) + (Other words) + Past Participle (at the end)
Choosing the Correct Helping Verb: «haben» or «sein»?
The most challenging part of forming the Perfekt is deciding whether to use «haben» or «sein» as the helping verb. Here are some general guidelines:
Most verbs use «haben». This includes transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object) and most intransitive verbs (verbs that don’t take a direct object).
Verbs of motion (movement from one place to another) use «sein». Examples include: gehen (to go), fahren (to drive), kommen (to come), reisen (to travel), laufen (to run).
Verbs that describe a change of state use «sein». Examples include: einschlafen (to fall asleep), aufwachen (to wake up), sterben (to die), werden (to become).
The verbs «sein» (to be), «bleiben» (to stay), and «passieren» (to happen) always use «sein».
Forming the Past Participle
The past participle is usually formed by adding «ge-” to the beginning of the verb stem and “-t» to the end for regular verbs. Irregular verbs have irregular past participles.
Regular Verbs:
kaufen (to buy) -> gekauft (ge-kauft)
spielen (to play) -> gespielt (ge-spielt)
lernen (to learn) -> gelernt (ge-lernt)
machen (to do) -> gemacht (ge-macht)
Irregular Verbs: Irregular verbs have irregular past participles that you’ll need to memorize. Here are a few examples:
essen (to eat) -> gegessen (ge-ges-sen)
trinken (to drink) -> getrunken (ge-trun-ken)
sprechen (to speak) -> gesprochen (ge-shpro-hen)
sehen (to see) -> gesehen (ge-zay-en)
sein (to be) -> gewesen (ge-vay-zen)
haben (to have) -> gehabt (ge-hapht)
Verbs with Inseparable Prefixes: Verbs with inseparable prefixes (be-, ge-, emp-, ent-, er-, ver-, zer-) do not add «ge-” to the past participle. Examples:
besuchen (to visit) -> besucht (be-zooht)
verkaufen (to sell) -> verkauft (fer-kauft)
Verbs Ending in -ieren: Verbs ending in -ieren also do not add «ge-” to the past participle. Examples:
studieren (to study) -> studiert (shtoo-deert)
fotografieren (to photograph) -> fotografiert (fo-to-gra-feert)
Examples of Perfekt Sentences
With «haben»:
Ich habe das Buch gekauft. (ihh hah-be das booh ge-kauft) – I bought the book.
Du hast Deutsch gelernt. (doo hast doitch ge-lernt) – You learned German.
Er hat Fußball gespielt. (air hat foos-bahl ge-shpeelt) – He played soccer.
Wir haben gegessen. (veer hah-ben ge-ges-sen) – We ate.
Sie haben das Haus besucht. (zee hah-ben das haus be-zooht) – They visited the house.
With «sein»:
Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren. (ihh bin nahh ber-leen ge-fah-ren) – I traveled to Berlin.
Du bist zu spät gekommen. (doo bist tsoo shpate ge-ko-men) – You came too late.
Er ist eingeschlafen. (air ist ain-ge-shla-fen) – He fell asleep.
Wir sind zu Hause geblieben. (veer zint tsoo hau-ze ge-blee-ben) – We stayed at home.
Was ist passiert? (vas ist pa-seert) – What