If this is your first time encountering modal verbs or the subjunctive, we suggest that you start out with one of these posts first:
German Articles
How to use German modal verbs in the subjunctive?
By: Daniel Krausse Thu Jun 05 2025
In German, modal verbs like können or müssen are used in the subjunctive mostly to make hypothetical statements and polite requests.
More uses of German modal verbs?! Könnte das möglich sein?(Could that be possible?).
In this post, we’ll discuss how and when to use subjunctive modals like könnte(could). Read on to find out more!
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Table of Contents
How to form the subjunctive of German modal verbs?
Modal verbs in the subjunctive usually look just like the simple past forms, except with an umlaut on the central vowel. Follow these rules:
Start with the simple past tense of the modal:
konnte
Add umlauts to the vowel: a → ä, u → ü and o → ö.
konnte
→könnte
Add the same agreement endings that you would add to a verb in the simple past tense:
konnte
→könnte
→du könntest
Here are all the German modal verbs in the present subjunctive:
Present Subjunctive Modal Verbs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subject | dürfen | können | mögen | müssen | sollen | wollen |
ich | dürfte | könnte | möchte | müsste | sollte | wollte |
du | dürftest | könntest | möchtest | müsstest | solltest | wolltest |
er/sie/es | dürfte | könnte | möchte | müsste | sollte | wollte |
wir | dürften | könnten | möchten | müssten | sollten | wollten |
ihr | dürftet | könntet | möchtet | müsstet | solltet | wolltet |
sie/Sie | dürften | könnten | möchten | müssten | sollten | wollten |
When to use the subjunctive forms of German modal verbs?
Modal verbs are used in their subjunctive form to make polite requests and polite suggestions, and hypothetical statements.
In general, the subjunctive in German implies that something is merely hypothetical, rather than real.
main verbsubjunctive modal
Wenn ich den Hund kaufen dürfte, wäre ich glücklich.
If I was allowed to buy the dog, I would be happy.
Using the subjunctive for requests implies that the person making the request is giving the other person a choice whether or not to fulfill the request — and that implied right to refuse is considered polite.
subjunctive modalmain verb
Möchten Sie das Hundefutter testen?
Would you like to test the dog food?
Dürfte ich ihren Hund streicheln?
Might I pet your dog?
Sollte ich das für Sie übernehmen?
Should I do this for you?
Ich könnte morgen mit dem Hund in den Park gehen.
I could go to the park with the dog tomorrow.
For more examples of modal verbs being used in the subjunctive, check out our series of articles on the subjunctive in German!
Summing up
What was discussed in this post:
For modal verbs, the simple past tense is the tense of choice to express the past.
It is also possible to use a double infinitive construction to express the past, pluperfect, and future tense.
Bare modal verbs can also be used in the perfect tense, but it is less common.
Colloquially and in some regions, all modal verbs are used in the perfect tense.
The subjunctive of modal verbs is frequently used for politeness and for hypothetical statements.
To read about modal verbs in general, head to our first post about modal verbs. Practice and apply what we discussed with these exercises!
