wollen in a question can express an invitation or suggestion:Wollen wir ins Kino gehen?
Let’s go to the cinema.See also 60.1c (p. 160).
wollen can express the meaning ‘claims to’:Sie will mich gestern am Strand gesehen haben.
She claims to have seen me yesterday on the beach.See 85.1 (p. 307).
dürfen with a negative (nicht, kein) means ‘must not/not allowed to’:Das dürfen Sie nicht sagen – ich darf kein Bier trinken.
You mustn’t say that – I can’t (am not allowed to) drink beer.dürfte (the Subjunctive II form of dürfen) can mean ‘may (very) well be’:Das dürfte der Fall sein.
That may (very) well be the case.See also 39.3d (p. 95) and 89.1 (p. 322).
mögen more often means ‘may’ or ‘might’:Das mag (wohl) wahr sein.
That may (well) be true.See 89.1 (p. 322).
sollen always expresses the idea of an expectation or belief on the part of someone else.
There are various English translations:Er soll hereinkommen!
Tell him to come in.Sie soll eine Ferienwohnung in Italien haben.
They say she has a holiday flat in Italy.See 85.4 (p. 309).
The simple past (33.3 and 34.5), sollte, is either a past tense of the main meaning or
expresses the idea ‘ought to, but doesn’t’. In this sense it often occurs with eigentlich:Diese neuen Maschinen sollten eigentlich keine Wartung brauchen.
These new machines shouldn’t really need servicing (but they do).Another use of sollte expresses surprise or reservation:Sollte das wahr sein?
Can this be true?See also 39.3d (p. 95) and^114 (pp. 409–12).
lassen is quite common with reflexive constructions (see 37 ):Ich lasse mich sehen.
I let myself be seen.35
Modal verbs