The Six German Modal Verbs, Learned As One Block

Q: What are the six German modal verbs?

können (can, to be able to), müssen (must, to have to), dürfen (may, to be allowed to), sollen (should, to be supposed to), wollen (to want to) and mögen (to like). A seventh form, möchte, is technically a subjunctive of mögen but behaves as its own modal meaning would like, and is far commoner than mögen itself in everyday speech.

Q: Where does the second verb go in a German modal sentence?

To the very end, in the infinitive. Ich will nach Haus gehen puts gehen last. English keeps its verbs together (I want to go home), German sends the second one to the end of the clause, and getting used to holding it in your head until the sentence finishes is one of the real adjustments of learning German.

Q: What is the difference between muessen and sollen?

müssen is necessity from the facts; sollen is obligation from somebody else. Ich muss gehen means circumstances require it. Ich soll gehen means someone has told me to. English blurs them with must and should, so the split takes some getting used to.

Q: Do I need moegen if moechte is commoner?

You need both, for different jobs. mögen on its own means to like something and is used with a noun rather than with another verb. möchte means would like and is the polite way to ask for anything, which is why a traveller meets it on day one and meets mögen proper rather later.

Six verbs, one pattern, and an enormous amount of German.

The modal verbs are the ones that sit in front of another verb and colour it: not I go but I can go, I must go, I want to go. German has six of them, they are all irregular, and they are all irregular in the same way. That is the good news, and it is why teaching them one at a time is a waste of everybody's effort.

The six

verb	meaning	form
	can, to be able to
	must, to have to
	may, to be allowed to
	should, to be meant to
	to want to	`will`
	to like

One warning before you go further. will does not mean will. will means I want, not I shall, and it is the single most reliable way to spot an English speaker guessing. German builds its future with , not with .

They break in the same two places

A normal German verb goes , , er . The modals do something different, and they all do it together:

No ending at all in the and er forms. and er are identical. So are and er . A normal verb would never do this.
The vowel changes in the singular. becomes , becomes , becomes , becomes . The plural puts the original vowel back: , .

Learn that once and you have learned it six times, which is exactly why these belong together rather than scattered across six chapters.

The other verb goes to the end

This is the structural half of the lesson, and it is the part that feels strange longest.

. - I can go.
Er . - He has to go home.
Kind . - We want to see the child.

The modal is conjugated and sits in second position, like any German verb. The second verb is an infinitive and goes to the very end of the clause, however much material comes in between. English keeps its verbs next to each other and German does not, so a German sentence asks you to hold the main idea open until the last word arrives. Listening practice is mostly practice at doing that without losing the thread.

Muessen against sollen, and duerfen against koennen

Two distinctions English blurs and German does not:

is necessity coming from circumstances. is obligation coming from somebody. because the last train is at eleven; because someone has told me to.
is ability. is permission. English says can I for both, which is why English speakers reach for when a German would say . If you are asking whether you are allowed, the verb is .

Where to start

Learn , and will first. Those three plus an infinitive will carry an astonishing proportion of what a beginner needs to say, and they are three of the most common words in the language. , and follow easily once the pattern is familiar, because by then you are not learning a new verb - you are learning a new meaning for a shape you already recognise.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/5

Which modal fits the meaning?

I am able to do it
I am required to do it
I am permitted to do it
I want to do it
Someone told me to do it

Matching

0/5

Match the modal to its meaning.

Translation drill

0/3

Note where the second verb lands.

Ich kann gehen.
Er muss nach Haus gehen.
Wir wollen das Kind sehen.

Frequently asked questions

What are the six German modal verbs?

können (can, to be able to), müssen (must, to have to), dürfen (may, to be allowed to), sollen (should, to be supposed to), wollen (to want to) and mögen (to like). A seventh form, möchte, is technically a subjunctive of mögen but behaves as its own modal meaning would like, and is far commoner than mögen itself in everyday speech.

Why do modal verbs have no ending in the ich form?

Because they are historically a different class of verb. In Old Germanic they were past-tense forms that drifted into present meaning, and they kept the old endings, which had no -e in the first person and no -t in the third. That is why ich kann and er kann are identical, where a normal verb would give ich sage and er sagt.

Where does the second verb go in a German modal sentence?

To the very end, in the infinitive. Ich will nach Haus gehen puts gehen last. English keeps its verbs together (I want to go home), German sends the second one to the end of the clause, and getting used to holding it in your head until the sentence finishes is one of the real adjustments of learning German.

What is the difference between muessen and sollen?

müssen is necessity from the facts; sollen is obligation from somebody else. Ich muss gehen means circumstances require it. Ich soll gehen means someone has told me to. English blurs them with must and should, so the split takes some getting used to.

Do I need moegen if moechte is commoner?

You need both, for different jobs. mögen on its own means to like something and is used with a noun rather than with another verb. möchte means would like and is the polite way to ask for anything, which is why a traveller meets it on day one and meets mögen proper rather later.