Modals: conditional tense
It's important to learn how to form the conditional tense of German modal verbs. Here are some points to remember:
- the conditional form of the modal verbs usually means 'would' eg, I would like, I would have to
- 'I would be able to' is also expressed in the conditional as 'I could', which is the same as the imperfect in English, but not the same in German
- sollen often means should or ought in the conditional
The conditional tense is very useful and luckily is easy to form if you remember the following points:
- take the imperfect tense
- wollen and sollen do not change at all
- add an umlaut to the imperfect tense of the other four verbs
- there are no changes to the endings
- the conditional tense is used with an infinitive, as in the present tense
So what does the conditional tense of the modal verbs look like?
- ich müsste – I would have to
- ich könnte – I could, I would be able
- ich dürfte – I would be allowed to
- ich möchte – I would like
Remember that wollen and sollen do not change at all and look like the imperfect:
- ich wollte – I would want, I would wish
- ich sollte – I should, I ought
Mir reicht, dass ich weiß, dass ich könnte, wenn ich möchte. - It is enough for me that I know that I could, if I would like to.
Question
To practise the conditional tense of modal verbs, match up the German and English meanings.
| German | English |
| 1. wir möchten | A. you should (singular, informal) |
| 2. ich müsste | B. he would be allowed |
| 3. du solltest | C. I would have to |
| 4. sie wollten | D. you would like (plural, informal) |
| 5. er dürfte | E. we would like |
| 6. ich könnte | F. you could, you would be able (formal) |
| 7. ihr möchtet | G. I could, I would be able to |
| 8. Sie könnten | H. they would want |
| German | 1. wir möchten |
|---|---|
| English | A. you should (singular, informal) |
| German | 2. ich müsste |
|---|---|
| English | B. he would be allowed |
| German | 3. du solltest |
|---|---|
| English | C. I would have to |
| German | 4. sie wollten |
|---|---|
| English | D. you would like (plural, informal) |
| German | 5. er dürfte |
|---|---|
| English | E. we would like |
| German | 6. ich könnte |
|---|---|
| English | F. you could, you would be able (formal) |
| German | 7. ihr möchtet |
|---|---|
| English | G. I could, I would be able to |
| German | 8. Sie könnten |
|---|---|
| English | H. they would want |
- wir möchten – E. we would like
- ich müsste – C. I would have to
- du solltest – A. you should (singular, informal)
- sie wollten – H. they would want
- er dürfte – B. he would be allowed
- ich könnte – G. I could, I would be able to
- ihr möchtet – D. you would like (plural, informal)
- Sie könnten – F. you could, you would be able (formal)
Question
Match the phrases with the images to practise understanding modal verbs in the conditional tense.
- Du müsstest früh aufstehen>.
- Sie dürfte nie bis Mitternacht in der Stadt bleiben.
- Er sollte geduldig sein.
- Er wollte auch ins Kino gehen.
- Ich möchte eine Welttour machen.
- Ich könnte um 4 Uhr fertig sein.
- E.Du müsstest früh aufstehen. – You would have to get up early.
- D.Sie dürfte nie bis Mitternacht in der Stadt bleiben. – She would never be allowed to stay in town until midnight.
- B.Er sollte geduldig sein. – He should be patient.
- C.Er wollte auch ins Kino gehen. – He would also want to go to the cinema (implies if given a choice, that is what he would choose).
- F.Ich möchte eine Welttour machen. – I would like to go on a world tour.
- A.Ich könnte um 4 Uhr fertig sein. – I could be ready at four o'clock.
Did you know?
Welchen Beruf möchtest du machen? – What job would you like to do?
One of the most frequent answers to this question is that young German speakers would like to be a presenter – Moderator – for one of the many private TV channels.
Germany has a system of publicly-funded TV stations, eg ARD, ZDF and also lots of privately-funded channels. Austria and Switzerland also have private channels and also have publicly-funded TV stations, eg ORF1 and ORF2 (Austria) and SRF1 and SRF2 (Switzerland).
In Switzerland, of course, there are stations which broadcast in French and Italian as well as German.
