Intermediate German: A Grammar and Workbook

UNIT SEVEN

Unit 7 Modal verbs

Modal verbs – expressing ability, necessity etc.

Modal verbs modify an action or situation by expressing the idea of ability,

obligation, permission etc.:

Siekannsehr gut schwimmen. She can swim very well.

Wir müssenjetzt gehen. We have to go now.

HierdürfenSie rauchen. You are allowed to smoke here.

Modal verbs in German

In German there are six modal verbs:

dürfen may/to be allowed to

können can/to be able to

mögen to like (to) (also used in the form möchten).

müssen must/to have to

sollen to be supposed to/should/ought to

wollen to want to

Meaning and most common usage

dürfen– permission, prohibition (‘must not’)

dürfenusually conveys the idea of permission and can be translated with

‘may’/‘can’ or ‘to be allowed to’:

Darf ich hier fotografieren?

Am I allowed to take photos here?

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