Reference · module 7
Can, must, want
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Ich kann
Say what you are able to do, and put the second verb where German wants it.
- Ich kann, du kannst, er kann. The ich and er forms are identical and neither takes an ending — that is true of every modal verb in German, and it is the one thing that makes them easy.
- Ich kann Deutsch sprechen. The modal takes the second slot, and the other verb goes to the very end, unchanged: sprechen keeps the form you would find in a dictionary.
- Können covers being able and being allowed alike: Ich kann schwimmen is I can swim, and Kann ich hier sitzen? is may I sit here. The situation does the rest.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich kann sprechen Deutsch.
Ich kann Deutsch sprechen.
English keeps can and speak side by side. German sends the second verb to the very end and parks everything else between the two of them.
Ich muss
Say what you have to do — and what you do not have to do.
- Ich muss, du musst, er muss. The same shape as können: no ending on ich or er, and the other verb still goes to the end. Ich muss arbeiten.
- Müssen is have to rather than want to. Ich muss heute arbeiten says the day has already been decided for you, and that is the whole difference from ich möchte.
- The negative is worth naming, because it catches everybody: ich muss nicht arbeiten means I do not have to, not I must not. German says the ban with a different verb, which comes later.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich muss nicht rauchen.
Ich darf nicht rauchen.
"I must not smoke" is a ban in English. Ich muss nicht rauchen says the opposite: nobody is making you smoke. The ban is ich darf nicht rauchen.
Wollen und mögen
Tell wanting, liking and asking politely apart.
- Ich will, du willst, er will. Careful: will here is not the English will. It means want, and it is blunt — Ich will einen Kaffee is a demand rather than a request.
- Möchte is the softened form of this very verb, which is why the two feel related. In a shop or a café use möchte; among friends wollen is perfectly normal.
- Mögen is liking rather than wanting, and it usually stands with a noun and no second verb at all: Ich mag Kaffee. Nothing goes to the end, because nothing is left to send there.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich mag einen Kaffee.
Ich möchte einen Kaffee.
"I like coffee" and "I would like a coffee" are almost the same words in English and two different verbs in German. Ordering is möchte; mögen is what you think of the stuff.
Die Klammer
Keep the two verbs in place however long the sentence gets.
- Modal second, other verb last. That pair holds the sentence like a bracket, and everything else sits inside it: Ich muss heute Deutsch lernen.
- Put more in the middle and the bracket does not move: Ich kann am Montag Deutsch sprechen. The two verbs stay exactly where they were, however much grows between them.
- A question moves only the first half. Kannst du Deutsch sprechen? The modal jumps to the front and the other verb stays at the end, exactly where it already was.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich kann sprechen Deutsch am Montag.
Ich kann am Montag Deutsch sprechen.
The longer the sentence grows, the more the second verb wants to come back to the front. It does not: sprechen stays last however much piles up in front of it.
Weil
Answer warum, and see the verb move for the first time.
- Warum lernst du Deutsch? The answer takes weil, and weil does the thing und, aber and oder refused to do: it sends the verb to the end. Weil ich in Berlin arbeite.
- Set them side by side. Ich lerne Deutsch und ich arbeite in Berlin — verb second. Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich in Berlin arbeite — verb last. One word makes the whole difference.
- A comma always goes in front of weil. And with a modal both verbs end up back there: weil ich arbeiten muss, with the modal last of all.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich arbeite in Berlin.
Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich in Berlin arbeite.
"Because I work in Berlin" leaves the verb where it stood, so this feels finished. Weil sends the verb to the very end of its own half of the sentence.