German modal verbs: können, müssen and the rest
German has six modal verbs: können, müssen, dürfen, sollen, wollen, mögen. They rank among the most useful words in the language, letting you say what you can, must, may or want to do. All six follow the same sentence pattern, so learning one gives you the frame for the rest.
What each modal means
können: can, to be able (ich kann schwimmen). müssen: must, to have to (ich muss gehen). dürfen: may, to be allowed (du darfst bleiben). sollen: should, to be supposed to (ich soll warten). wollen: to want (er will lernen). mögen: to like (ich mag Kaffee), with the polite form möchte meaning would like.
The sentence frame: modal second, verb last
The modal takes the normal second position, and the main verb goes to the very end as an infinitive: Ich kann heute nicht kommen (I can’t come today). This "bracket," modal near the front and infinitive at the back, is one of German’s signature structures, and modals are where you first meet it.
Irregular present, and no -st/-t for ich/er
Modals change their stem vowel in the singular, and the ich and er/sie/es forms are identical with no ending: ich kann, du kannst, er kann; ich muss, du musst, er muss. That shared ich/er form is the pattern worth locking in, since it trips up learners who expect a regular -t.
möchte vs wollen
Both touch on wanting, but the tone differs. Ich will einen Kaffee is direct: "I want a coffee." Ich möchte einen Kaffee is polite: "I would like a coffee," and it is what you use when ordering or asking for something. möchte is technically a subjunctive form of mögen, but treat it as its own everyday verb.
Drill the singular forms hardest
The plural modal forms are regular and easy. The singular ones, with the vowel change and the ich/er overlap, are where mistakes live. Verboteca schedules each modal form separately, so the tricky singular forms come back more often than the easy plurals, and practice ends up where you actually need it.