Taking a driving test can be incredibly stressful, especially when the examiner starts pointing out everything you should have done differently. To talk about missed opportunities and past obligations, German uses a specific structure: hätte + double infinitive.
The Double Infinitive
To express a past regret or instruction like "I should have...", start with the conjugated past subjunctive of haben (hätte). Instead of using a past participle at the end of the sentence, you use two infinitives: your main action verb, immediately followed by the modal verb (like sollen).
| Should I have honked or braked here? | Hätte ich hier hupen oder bremsen sollen? |
| The examiner thinks you should have braked. | Der Prüfer denkt, du hättest bremsen sollen. |
Using Other Modal Verbs
You can swap out sollen for other modal verbs to express different shades of past possibilities and obligations:
- müssen: had to / absolutely should have
- können: could have
- dürfen: with nicht, meaning "should not have been allowed to" or "must not have"
Conjugate haben to match the subject (du hättest, wir hätten, sie hätte). The double infinitive at the end of the sentence never changes.
| He should have looked in the rearview mirror. | Er hätte in den Rückspiegel schauen müssen. |
| Without the shoulder check, you could have failed. | Ohne den Schulterblick hättest du durchfallen können. |
| We should not have overtaken the car. | Wir hätten das Auto nicht überholen dürfen. |
Position 2 Remains King
Just like in standard main clauses, if you start your sentence with a prepositional phrase, an adverb, or a conjunction like also (so / therefore), the conjugated hätte stays firmly in the second position. The subject immediately follows it, and the double infinitive still waits at the very end.
| She had the right of way, so I shouldn't have honked. | Sie hatte die Vorfahrt, also hätte ich nicht hupen sollen. |
| Despite the speed, you should have done the shoulder check. | Trotz der Geschwindigkeit hättest du den Schulterblick machen müssen. |