Modal Verbs
Modal verbs have meanings that
express mood.
- are special verbs which behave very differently
from normal verbs.
- It gives emphasis to the whole sentence.
- Every modal verb can be combined with
any action infinitive to form a modal verb
phrase.
SAMPLE SENTENCES
You understand!
You should understand!
She will be here by 9:00
She should be here by 9:00
GERMAN MODAL VERBS
KÖNNEN - be able, can
DÜRFEN -be allowed/permitted, may
MÖGEN - like, want, may
MÜSSEN - have to, must
SOLLEN -should, ought to, supposed to
WOLLEN -want to
SOLLEN -should, ought to, supposed to
Action VERB :
To do = machen
Er macht es.
He does it.
Er soll es machen.
He should do it.
KÖNNEN - be able, can
Action VERB :
To carry = tragen
Er trägt es
He carries it
Er kann es tragen.
He can carry it.
DÜRFEN -be allowed/permitted, may
Action VERB :
To stay = bleiben
Wir bleiben hier.
We stay here
Wir dürfen hier bleiben
We may stay here
MÖGEN - like, want, may
Action VERB :
To help = helfen
Ihr helft uns
You help us
Ihr mögen uns helfen
You like to help us.
WOLLEN -want to
Action VERB :
To become = werden
Du wirst begabt
You are becoming skilled.
Du willst begabt werden.
You want to become skilled.
MÜSSEN - have to, must
Action VERB :
To give = geben
Sie geben mehr.
They give more.
Sie müssen mehr geben.
They must give more
CONJUGATION
Personal Pronouns Verb Endings
singular plural singular plural
1st person ich wir ich ~ e wir~ en
2nd person du ihr du ~ st ihr ~ t
Sie Sie Sie ~ en Sie ~ en
3rd person er/sie/es sie er/sie/es ~ t sie ~ en
Wichtig!
Modal verbs “sollen” have regular conjugations.
TAKE NOTE!
WOLLEN -want to o>i
KÖNNEN - be able, can Ö> a
DÜRFEN -be allowed Ü > a
MÜSSEN - have to, must Ü >u
MÖGEN - like, want, may Ö > a
SOLLEN -should .. regular conj.
The modal remains dependent upon its action verb, which is
placed in the last position in all sentences, whether
statements, questions or imperative commands.
Since the modal verb must be conjugated to agree with the
subject, it takes the pivotal second position in statement
sentences.
A German sentence only conjugatesone verb per clause,
therefore, the dependent action verb is givenin its infinitive
form.
Sample : Du willst begabt werden
Modals in the Present Tense
The MOST IMPORTANT RULE to remember about modals in
the present tense: Each modal only has TWO (2) basic forms:
singular and plural. Take the verb "können." It has the basic
forms "können" (plural) and "kann" (singular). For the singular
pronouns ich, du, er/sie/es, you use kann (du adds its usual -st
ending: du kannst). For the plural pronouns wir, ihr, sie/Sie, you
use können (ihr takes its usual -t ending: ihr könnt). Also note the
resemblance to English in the pairs kann / "can" and muss /
"must."
This means that the modals are actually simpler to conjugate/use
than other German verbs. If you remember they only have two
basic present tense forms, your life will be much easier! All of the
modals work the same way: dürfen/darf, können/kann,
mögen/mag, müssen/muss, sollen/soll, wollen/will.
Modals in the Past Tense
In the simple past tense (Imperfekt), the modals are actually
even easier than in the present. All six modals add the regular
past tense marker -te to the stem of the infinitive. The four
modals that have umlauts in their infinitive form, drop the
umlaut in the simple past: dürfen/durfte, können/konnte,
mögen/mochte, müssen/musste. Sollen becomes sollte and
wollen changes to wollte in the past.
Group yourself
into
2 groups
GIVE THE CORRECT MODAL VERB
1 .PRÄSENS : __ ich rauchen? (DÜRFEN) May I smoke?
2 . Preterite: Er __ sie nicht leiden. (KÖNNEN) He couldn't stand
her.
3. Preterite: Er ___ es nicht tun. (MÜSSEN) He didn't have to do it.
[Link]ÄSENS : Ich ___ dort Deutsch sprechen. (MÜSSEN) I have
to speak German there.
5. PRÄSENS : Er ____ die Suppe. (mögen) He likes the soup.
6. Preterite:Er ___ die Stadt nicht. (mögen) He didn't like the city.
7. PRÄSENS : Er ___reich sein. He's supposed to be rich.
8. Preterite: Er ___ gestern ankommen. He was supposed to arrive
yesterday.
9. PRÄSENS : Sie ___nicht gehen. She doesn't want to go.
10. Preterite: Ich ___ das Buch lesen. I wanted to read the book.
