The German modal verbs are a group of six verbs which affect the mood of a sentence, approximating to words like "can", "must" and "will" in English. Their combinations with German infinitive and their broad range of usage are discussed in Chapter 8 of this course.

In the present tense, the modal verbs:

• have a zero ending on the "er/sie/es" form of the verb, i.e. there is no final -t
• have a zero ending on the "ich" form of the verb, i.e. there is no final -e
• apply any change to the stem vowel to the "ich" form of the verb, as well as to the "du" and "er/sie/es" forms. (N.B. The modal verb "sollen" does not modify its stem vowel at all.)

Table 1: Present tense of "dürfen" Singular   ich darf I am allowed to du darfst Sie dürfen You are allowed to (informal/formal)  er/sie/es darf He/she/it is allowed to Plural   wir dürfen We are allowed to ihr dürft Sie dürfen You are allowed to (informal/formal)  sie dürfen They are allowed to

Table 2: Present tense of "können" Singular   ich kann I can du kannst Sie können You can (informal/formal)  er/sie/es kann He/she/it can Plural   wir können We can ihr könnt Sie können You can (informal/formal)  sie können They can

Table 3: Present tense of "mögen" Singular   ich mag I like du magst Sie mögen You like (informal/formal)  er/sie/es mag He/she/it likes Plural   wir mögen We like ihr mögt Sie mögen You like (informal/formal)  sie mögen They like

Table 4: Present tense of "müssen" Singular   ich muss I must du musst Sie müssen You must (informal/formal)  er/sie/es muss He/she/it must Plural   wir müssen We must ihr müsst Sie müssen You must (informal/formal)  sie müssen They must

Table 5: Present tense of "sollen" Singular   ich soll I am meant to du sollst Sie sollen You are meant to (informal/formal)  er/sie/es soll He/she/it is meant to Plural   wir sollen We are meant to ihr sollt Sie sollen You are meant to (informal/formal)  sie sollen They are meant to

Table 6: Present tense of "wollen" Singular   ich will I want du willst Sie wollen You want (informal/formal)  er/sie/es will He/she/it wants Plural   wir wollen We want ihr wollt Sie wollen You want (informal/formal)  sie wollen They want

This pattern of present tense formation also applies to the German verb "wissen" (to know). It also:

• has a zero ending on the "er/sie/es" form of the verb, i.e. there is no final -t
• has a zero ending on the "ich" form of the verb, i.e. there is no final -e
• applies the change to the stem vowel to the "ich" form of the verb, as well as to the "du" and "er/sie/es" forms.

Table 7: Present tense of "wissen" Singular   ich weiß I know du weißt Sie wissen You know (informal/formal)  er/sie/es weiß He/she/it knows Plural   wir wissen We know ihr wisst Sie wissen You know (informal/formal)  sie wissen They know

German Present Tense: Separable Verbs

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