Breakdown of Mein Vater ist sehr streng. Früher durfte ich nie spät ausgehen.
ich
I
sein
to be
sehr
very
mein
my
der Vater
the father
dürfen
to be allowed to, may
spät
late
nie
never
früher
in the past
streng
strict
ausgehen
to go out
Questions & Answers about Mein Vater ist sehr streng. Früher durfte ich nie spät ausgehen.
Why doesn't durfte have an umlaut like its dictionary form dürfen?
When forming the simple past (Präteritum) of modal verbs with umlauts like dürfen, müssen, and können, the umlaut is dropped. That is why dürfen becomes durfte.
Why is the simple past durfte used here instead of the spoken past?
For modal verbs like dürfen, German speakers almost always use the simple past (durfte) rather than the spoken past (habe gedurft). This is true even in casual spoken German, where the spoken past is otherwise preferred for normal verbs.
Why is the verb durfte placed before the subject ich?
German uses a strict "Verb Second" word order in statement sentences. Because this sentence starts with the time word Früher (in the past), the conjugated verb durfte must take the second position, pushing the subject ich into the third position.
ausgehen (to go out) is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up here?
Because the sentence uses a conjugated modal verb (durfte), the main action verb (ausgehen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence in its full, unbroken infinitive form. You only split a separable verb when it acts as the main conjugated verb in the sentence.
Can früher also just mean "earlier"?
Yes! Früher is the comparative form of früh (early), so its literal meaning is "earlier". However, when used as a general time marker like in this sentence, it is the most common way to say "in the past" or "back in the day".
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