German Modal Verbs (können, müssen, wollen)
After this lesson you can say what you can, must and want to do.
Do this first: Verb position
Übungen
Eight exercises on what you just watched. Get 80% and the lesson is marked done and added to your A1 progress.
1 / 8 · Type the missing word
2 / 8 · Type the missing word
3 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
I want to learn German.
4 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
I can swim.
5 / 8 · Choose
Which is correct?
6 / 8 · Choose
Where does the main verb go with a modal?
7 / 8 · Choose
What does können mean?
8 / 8 · Choose
What does müssen mean?
In short
German has six modal verbs: können (can), müssen (must), wollen (want), sollen (should), dürfen (may) and mögen (like). The modal takes position two and the main verb goes to the very end, unchanged: "Ich will Deutsch lernen."
How it works
Modal verbs are the words that let you say what you can, must, want, should, may and like to do. German has six, and they unlock an enormous amount of everyday speech — asking permission, making plans, being polite, saying no.
The structure is a single rule and it never varies: the modal verb is conjugated and sits in position two, while the main verb stays in its plain infinitive form and goes to the very end of the clause. Ich will Deutsch lernen. Ich kann schwimmen. Du musst früh aufstehen. Whatever else you put in the sentence goes between them.
The mistake to guard against is drifting back into English order. "I can swim well" tempts you into Ich kann schwimmen gut, but the infinitive must be the last word: Ich kann gut schwimmen. Everything — adverbs, objects, times, places — is packed between the modal and the final infinitive. Think of the two verbs as bookends holding the sentence together.
| Modal | Meaning | ich | du | er/sie/es |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| können | can, to be able | kann | kannst | kann |
| müssen | must, to have to | muss | musst | muss |
| wollen | to want | will | willst | will |
| sollen | should, ought to | soll | sollst | soll |
| dürfen | may, to be allowed | darf | darfst | darf |
| mögen | to like | mag | magst | mag |
| Slot 1 | Modal (2) | Middle | Infinitive (end) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ich | will | Deutsch | lernen. |
| Ich | kann | gut | schwimmen. |
| Du | musst | früh | aufstehen. |
| Wir | dürfen | hier nicht | parken. |
| Heute | muss | ich | arbeiten. |
Examples
- Ich will Deutsch lernen.I want to learn German.
- Ich kann schwimmen.I can swim.
- Er kann gut kochen.He can cook well.
- Ich muss arbeiten.I have to work.
- Du musst früh aufstehen.You have to get up early.
- Wir dürfen hier nicht parken.We are not allowed to park here.
- Sollen wir gehen?Shall we go?
- Ich mag keinen Kaffee.I don't like coffee.
- Kannst du mir helfen?Can you help me?
- Heute muss ich lange arbeiten.Today I have to work late.
Mistakes to avoid
✗ Ich kann schwimmen gut.
✓ Ich kann gut schwimmen.
The infinitive must be the final word. Adverbs like gut sit in the middle, never after the main verb.
✗ Ich will zu lernen Deutsch.
✓ Ich will Deutsch lernen.
German uses no zu with a modal. The main verb is the bare infinitive — no "to".
✗ Ich kanne / Ich musse
✓ Ich kann / Ich muss
Modals drop the usual -e in the ich form, and ich and er/sie/es are identical. Ich kann, er kann.
✗ Ich will ein Kaffee (meaning "I would like")
✓ Ich möchte einen Kaffee.
Wollen is blunt — it means "I want", full stop. To order politely, use möchte, the polite form of mögen. In a café, always möchte.
Wortschatz
The words from this lesson.
| können | can, to be able to | |
| müssen | must, to have to | |
| wollen | to want | |
| sollen | should, ought to | |
| dürfen | may, to be allowed to | |
| mögen | to like | |
| möchte | would like | the polite form — use it to order |
| helfen | to help | |
| parken | to park | |
| kochen | to cook |
Kulturnotiz
Getting wollen and möchte right matters more than most grammar points, because the difference is heard as manners rather than accuracy. Ich will einen Kaffee lands like "give me a coffee"; Ich möchte einen Kaffee, bitte is what an adult German says. Children say will, and adults notice.
Common questions
+Why is ich will "I want" and not "I will"?
A false friend. German wollen means "to want"; the English future "will" is unrelated. Ich will gehen means "I want to go", not "I will go".
+Why do modals have no -e in the ich form?
They are a small historical class with their own pattern. Ich kann, ich muss, ich will — and the er/sie/es form is identical, which is unusual in German and makes them easy to spot.
+What is the difference between müssen and sollen?
Müssen is genuine necessity — Ich muss arbeiten. Sollen is obligation from someone else, closer to "am supposed to" — Ich soll früher kommen, meaning someone told me to.
+Do I ever need zu before the main verb?
Not with modals. Ich will lernen, never Ich will zu lernen. Other verbs like versuchen do take zu, but that comes later.