Ultimate Explanation To 6 German Modal Verbs With Examples & Insights

German modal verbs help you express ability, possibility, permission and obligation. 

There are six main modal verbs in German, and in this blog post, we’ll cover every single one of them. If you want to jump right in, you can watch this video from Easy German:

We’re going to give you the ultimate explanations on why you need to know these German modal verbs, how you can use them, and we’ll give you tons of examples.

What are German modal verbs and why are they important?

The six common modal verbs in German are:

These verbs are used in everyday German conversations and are important for expressing even the smallest details in real-life situations.

Let’s explore them one-by-one!

1. Können (can, to be able to)

Können expresses ability or possibility, similar to “can” or “to be able to” in English.

Here’s how you conjugate können in present and simple past tense:

Not enough? No worries! Let’s take a look at these example sentences:

• “Ich kann Deutsch sprechen.” (I can speak German.)
• “Wir konnten gestern nicht kommen.” (We couldn’t come yesterday.)

2. Müssen (must, have to)

Müssen expresses necessity or obligation, equivalent to “must” or “have to” in English.

The most common use cases for müssen happen in the simple present and simple past tense:

Let’s take a look at how you can use müssen in real German sentences:

• “Ich muss meine Hausaufgaben machen.” (I must do my homework.)
• “Sie mussten lange warten.” (They had to wait for a long time.)

3. Dürfen (may, to be able to)

“Dürfen” is used to express permission or prohibition, similar to “may” or “to be allowed to” in English.

The conjugation of dürfen is a bit more complicated, so let’s check it together:

You can use this German modal verb like this:

• “Darf ich eine Frage stellen?” (May I ask a question?)
• “Die Kinder durften länger aufbleiben.” (The children were allowed to stay up longer.)

4. Sollen (should, ought to)

“Sollen” expresses duty, obligation, or expectation, often translated as “should” or “ought to” in English.

Learn the correct conjugation with us – here’s a table, but… stay until the end and we’ll share a better method with you!

If you’re looking for full sentences:

• “Du sollst deine Eltern respektieren.” (You should respect your parents.)
• “Wir sollten mehr Sport treiben.” (We ought to do more sports.)

5. Wollen (to want to/to wish to)

“Wollen” expresses desire or intention, translating to “to want to” or “to wish to” in English.

This how you can say you want to do something in German:

• “Ich will Deutsch lernen.” (I want to learn German.)
• “Sie wollten ins Kino gehen.” (They wanted to go to the cinema.)

6. Mögen (to like)

“Mögen” typically means “to like” in its present tense, while its subjunctive form “möchte” expresses polite wishes or requests.

Be careful with the conjugation for the past tense:

Here’s how you can use mögen in real German sentences:

• “Ich mag Schokolade.” (I like chocolate.)
• “Wir mochten den Film nicht.” (We didn’t like the movie.)
• “Möchtest du etwas trinken?” (Would you like something to drink?) – Note the use of the subjunctive form here.

Use German modal verbs with the correct sentence structure

When using modal verbs in a sentence, the conjugated modal verb takes the second position, while the main verb appears at the end of the sentence in its infinitive form.

In equation form, we could put it like this:

[Subject] + [Conjugated Modal Verb] + [Other Sentence Elements] + [Main Verb in Infinitive Form]

And we’re going to show you how all of this works in action:

• “Ich kann sehr gut Deutsch sprechen.” (I can speak German very well.)
• “Wir müssen heute früh aufstehen.” (We have to wake up early today.)

If you want to be grammatically correct, you have to follow this German sentence structure.

Learn modal verbs in German perfect tense

German modal verbs can be used in the perfect tense, but they follow a special construction.

The auxiliary verb (haben) is conjugated, and both the modal verb and the main verb appear at the end of the sentence in their infinitive forms.

No problem if you don’t understand it at first, we’ll show you examples:

• “Ich habe Deutsch lernen wollen.” (I have wanted to learn German.)
• “Sie hat nicht kommen können.” (She hasn’t been able to come.)

Learn German modal verbs in future tense

Modal verbs can be used in the future tense.

To do this, use “werden” as an auxiliary verb, followed by the infinitive of the modal verb and the main verb at the end.

For example:

• “Ich werde morgen nicht kommen können.” (I won’t be able to come tomorrow.)
• “Sie werden das Buch lesen müssen.” (They will have to read the book.)

Discover the world with six modal verbs in German

To put you in a comfortable position, here’s a table with more common expressions and phrases that have German modal verbs in them.

Practice German modal verbs with exercises

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate German modal verb. The English translation with the solution is provided in brackets after each sentence.

This was just a look behind the scenes. If you want to practice more, you can request access to our Full Practice Worksheets.

Use the 6 German modal verbs in a sentence with Conversation Based Chunking

Do you remember that we mentioned learning German modal verbs and their conjugation with chunks?

Yes, it’s time to uncover the myth. Conversation Based Chunking is a method that focuses on lexical chunks, also known as natural building blocks of the language: instead of focusing on grammar rules and definitions, Conversation Based Chunking immerses you in the language. This way, you learn the language as it is.

You might not even know this, but you learned your mother language just like this. If we ask you a grammar-related question in your native tongue, do you immediately know the answer? The answer is probably no. You have to stop and think about it.

If you use this method, you’ll learn German just like you did with your native language. And if you sign up now, we’ll give you a guide! 

In this guide, you’ll get your first FREE Essential German Chunking List, other resources to learn Spanish and you’ll even have access to our Full German Practice Worksheet Library.