Modal Verbs (können, müssen, wollen)

Level: A1. Modal verbs let you say what you can, must, want, may or should do. They are among the most useful words in German because almost every real sentence needs one. Once you know their shape and where the second verb goes, you can build dozens of new sentences.

The rule

A modal verb is a helper verb that changes the meaning of a main verb: kann (can), muss (must), will (want), darf (may/allowed), soll (should), mag (like). German has six of them, plus the very common polite form möchte (would like).

In a normal statement the modal is conjugated and stands in position 2 — the same slot as any other verb. The main verb then drops to the end of the clause as a plain infinitive (its dictionary form, ending in -en). Nothing happens to that second verb; you never add an ending to it.

The tricky part is the singular. Five of the six modals change their stem vowel in the singular and then switch back in the plural. The ich and er/sie/es forms are always identical and take no ending — this is the single most reliable fact about modals.

The present-tense forms

Notice two patterns. First, sollen is the exception that keeps its vowel (soll, not sÖll). Second, the plural forms (wir, sie/Sie) are identical to the infinitive: wir können, sie müssen.

How to say it

A few of these words hold sounds English speakers get wrong:

• ö in können, mögen: say “ay” as in “day”, then round your lips. Not “oh”.
• ü in müssen, dürfen: say “ee”, then round your lips. Not “oo”.
• ch in ich, möchte: a soft, hissing sound made at the front of the mouth, like a whispered “h” in “hue”.
• w in wollen, will: like an English “v” — will sounds like “vil”, never “will”.

Example sentences

Common mistakes

• ❌ Ich kann schwimmen gut. → ✅ Ich kann gut schwimmen. The infinitive goes to the very end; adverbs come before it.
• ❌ Er kannt nicht kommen. → ✅ Er kann nicht kommen. The er form takes no ending — it equals the ich form.
• ❌ Ich will ein Eis esse. → ✅ Ich will ein Eis essen. The second verb stays an infinitive, never conjugated.
• ❌ Du muss gehen. → ✅ Du musst gehen. Only ich and er/sie/es drop the ending; du always adds -st.
• ❌ Wir müssen zu gehen. → ✅ Wir müssen gehen. No zu after a modal — just the bare infinitive.

A short conversation

— Kannst du heute Abend kommen? — Nein, ich muss leider arbeiten. Aber morgen kann ich. — Gut. Möchtest du danach etwas essen? — Ja, gern. Ich will die neue Pizzeria probieren.

Usage notes

• No “to” and no zu. English says “I want to go”; German uses a bare infinitive after a modal: Ich will gehen.
• The main verb can be dropped when it is obvious, especially with motion or machen: Ich muss nach Hause (… gehen) — “I have to go home.”
• müssen nicht ≠ must not. Du musst nicht kommen means “you don’t have to come”. To forbid, use dürfen: Du darfst nicht kommen = “you must not come.”
• möchte vs wollen. möchte is softer and more polite; wollen is a firm wish or intention. In a café, say Ich möchte…, not Ich will…, which can sound blunt.
• In questions and after conjunctions the frame still holds: in a subordinate clause the modal moves to the very end, after the infinitive (…, weil ich arbeiten muss).

Compared with the regular present tense

A regular present-tense verb carries the meaning and the ending on its own: Ich spiele Fußball. A modal sentence splits the work in two — the modal takes the ending and the slot in position 2, while a second verb supplies the action at the end: Ich will Fußball spielen. The word order you met in German word order still applies: the conjugated verb (here the modal) stays in position 2, and the question words you know open the sentence as usual — Was willst du machen?

Quick recap before the quiz.

Practice

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

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