Modal Verbs (können, müssen, dürfen, sollen, wollen, mögen)

Modal verbs express ability, permission, obligation, desire, or preference. They are among the most frequently used verbs in German and have special conjugation patterns and sentence structures. German has six modal verbs, and mastering them will dramatically expand what you can express.

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The Six Modal Verbs

Modal Verb	Core Meaning
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
mögen	to like

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Present Tense Conjugation

Modal verbs are irregular in the singular forms (ich, du, er/sie/es) — the vowel often changes, and ich and er/sie/es have no endings.

können (can / to be able to)

Pronoun	Form
ich	kann
du	kannst
er/sie/es	kann
wir	können
ihr	könnt
sie/Sie	können

müssen (must / to have to)