Modal Verbs
Modal Verbs
German modal verbs like können ('can') and müssen ('must') behave like English modals in meaning, but they push the main verb all the way to the end of the sentence — a word-order habit English speakers need to build deliberately.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Modal verb in position 2, infinitive at the very end
Ich kann Deutsch sprechen. (I can speak German — sprechen goes last)
I can speak German.
English keeps its modal and main verb next to each other: "I can speak German." German splits them apart — the conjugated modal verb (kann) takes the normal verb-second position, while the main verb, in its plain infinitive form, gets shoved all the way to the end of the clause: Ich kann Deutsch sprechen, literally "I can German speak." This "verb bracket" (Satzklammer) is one of the most fundamental shapes of a German sentence, and it only gets more elaborate with longer sentences — the infinitive still lands at the very end no matter how much you pack in between.
The modal verbs are irregular in the singular
ich kann / du kannst / er kann — but wir können / ihr könnt / sie können
I can / you can / he can — but we can / you can / they can
Modal verbs have a stem-vowel change between the singular and plural forms (können → kann in ich/du/er) that has no parallel in English, where "can" never changes form at all. Each modal verb's singular stem must simply be memorized (können→kann, müssen→muss, wollen→will, dürfen→darf); the plural forms return to the infinitive stem plus regular endings.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich kann | ikh kahn | I can |
| ich muss | ikh moos | I must |
| ich will | ikh vil | I want to |
| ich möchte | ikh MERKH-teh | I would like to |
| ich darf | ikh dahrf | I may / am allowed to |
| ich soll | ikh zol | I am supposed to |
| Ich kann Deutsch sprechen. | ikh kahn doytsh SHPREKH-en | I can speak German. |
| Ich muss jetzt gehen. | ikh moos yetst GAY-en | I have to go now. |