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### The Simple Past of Modal Verbs

When talking about the past in German, you usually use the spoken past (Perfekt). However, **modal verbs** are a major exception! For modal verbs, Germans strongly prefer the simple past (**Präteritum**) even in everyday, casual conversations.

To form the simple past of a modal verb, two things happen:
1. If the verb normally has an umlaut (**ä, ö, ü**), it loses it in the past tense.
2. A **-t-** is added before the ending.

Here is the complete simple past conjugation. Notice that the **ich** and **er/sie/es** forms are always identical:

| Modal Verb | ich / er/sie/es | du | wir / sie/Sie | ihr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **wollen** (wanted to) | wollte | wolltest | wollten | wolltet |
| **können** (could) | konnte | konntest | konnten | konntet |
| **müssen** (had to) | musste | musstest | mussten | musstet |
| **dürfen** (was allowed to) | durfte | durftest | durften | durftet |
| **sollen** (was supposed to) | sollte | solltest | sollten | solltet |

Sentence structure remains exactly the same as in the present tense: the modal verb takes the second position, and the main verb gets pushed to the very end of the sentence in its infinitive form.

### Intentions and Abilities

Use **wollte** to talk about past plans, desires, or intentions, and **konnte** for past abilities (what someone *could* or *was able to* do).

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### Permissions and Obligations

Use **durfte** to talk about past permissions (what someone *was allowed to* do), and **musste** for historical obligations (what someone *had to* do).

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### Expectations in the Past

Use **sollte** to express that someone *was supposed to* do something. 

*(Note: **sollte** is also the exact same form used for giving present-tense advice, translating to "should". You will usually be able to tell from the context whether it means "should" or "was supposed to".)*

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Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
the childhood	die Kindheit
the foreign country / abroad	das Ausland
In my childhood, I always wanted to live abroad.	In meiner Kindheit wollte ich immer im Ausland leben.
strict	streng
to go out	ausgehen
My father is very strict. In the past, I was never allowed to go out late.	Mein Vater ist sehr streng. Früher durfte ich nie spät ausgehen.
the driver's license	der Führerschein
She wanted to get her driver's license, but she couldn't buy the car.	Sie wollte den Führerschein machen, aber sie konnte das Auto nicht kaufen.
the apprenticeship / the vocational training	die Ausbildung
He was supposed to study abroad, but he had to start an apprenticeship.	Er sollte im Ausland studieren, aber er musste eine Ausbildung anfangen.
to manage / to accomplish	schaffen
I wanted to pass the exam without help, but I couldn't.	Ich wollte die Prüfung ohne Hilfe schaffen, aber ich konnte es nicht.
to try	versuchen
You were supposed to take the exam today, but you didn't want to try it.	Du solltest heute die Prüfung machen, aber du wolltest es nicht versuchen.
He couldn't go out on the weekend because he had to study for his apprenticeship.	Er konnte am Wochenende nicht ausgehen, denn er musste für die Ausbildung lernen.
We had to be strict, and the children weren't allowed to eat chocolate.	Wir mussten streng sein und die Kinder durften keine Schokolade essen.
He wanted to repair the car quickly, but he couldn't.	Er wollte das Auto schnell reparieren, aber er konnte es nicht.
In my childhood, I often had to clean the kitchen.	In meiner Kindheit musste ich oft die Küche putzen.
We were supposed to do the project, so we had to work together.	Wir sollten das Projekt machen, also mussten wir zusammen arbeiten.
I had to get the driver's license.	Ich musste den Führerschein machen.
We wanted to try it, but we could not manage it.	Wir wollten es versuchen, aber wir konnten es nicht schaffen.

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