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### Giving Advice with "sollen"

In German, the modal verb **sollen** expresses what someone *should* do or what is *supposed to* happen. Like other modal verbs, it takes the second position and pushes the main verb to the end of the sentence in its infinitive form.

Here is the present tense conjugation. Notice that the **ich** and **er/sie/es** forms have no ending:

| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| ich | soll |
| du | sollst |
| er/sie/es | soll |
| wir | sollen |
| ihr | sollt |
| sie/Sie | sollen |

Use **sollen** to give advice:

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### Rules and Expectations

**Sollen** also translates to "to be supposed to." Use it to talk about expectations, official rules, or instructions.

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### General Guidelines

Pair **sollen** with the impersonal pronoun **man** (one) to state general rules or moral advice.

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The modal verb for advice (sollen)

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

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

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 fever	das Fieber
absolutely	unbedingt
The child has a fever. It should definitely sleep.	Das Kind hat Fieber. Es soll unbedingt schlafen.
You have a fever. You should take the medicine.	Du hast Fieber. Du sollst die Medizin einnehmen.
the advice	der Ratschlag
the cough	der Husten
The doctor's advice is good. You should take something for the cough.	Der Ratschlag vom Arzt ist gut. Du sollst etwas gegen den Husten nehmen.
Your cough is not better today. You should not smoke!	Dein Husten ist heute nicht besser. Du sollst nicht rauchen!
The weather is bad. You should definitely stay at home.	Das Wetter ist schlecht. Ihr sollt unbedingt zu Hause bleiben.
to stop (doing something)	aufhören
The rain is supposed to stop this afternoon.	Der Regen soll heute Nachmittag aufhören.
The noise is supposed to stop immediately!	Der Lärm soll sofort aufhören!
the rule	die Regel
to observe	beachten
There is a new rule in the office. All employees are supposed to observe it.	Es gibt eine neue Regel im Büro. Alle Mitarbeiter sollen sie beachten.
We are supposed to listen to the teacher and observe the rule.	Wir sollen dem Lehrer zuhören und die Regel beachten.
the truth	die Wahrheit
What did Grandpa say? We are supposed to always tell the truth.	Was hat Opa gesagt? Wir sollen immer die Wahrheit sagen.
One should not swim here. It is dangerous!	Man soll hier nicht schwimmen. Es ist gefährlich!
to steal	stehlen
to lie (tell a falsehood)	lügen
You should not steal and not lie!	Du sollst nicht stehlen und nicht lügen!
Why do people steal? They should work!	Warum stehlen die Leute? Sie sollen arbeiten!
My advice is: You should not lie.	Mein Ratschlag ist: Du sollst nicht lügen.
One should always tell the truth.	Man soll immer die Wahrheit sagen.