Breakdown of Du solltest heute die Prüfung machen, aber du wolltest es nicht versuchen.
du
you (informal singular)
es
it
machen
to make, to do
aber
but
Questions & Answers about Du solltest heute die Prüfung machen, aber du wolltest es nicht versuchen.
Why does solltest translate to 'were supposed to' instead of 'should'?
solltest is the simple past tense (Präteritum) of the modal verb sollen (to be supposed to). While it can also mean 'should' for giving advice, the second half of the sentence uses the past tense wolltest (wanted to). This context tells us solltest is being used in its literal past tense here: 'were supposed to'.
Is wolltest the normal way to say 'wanted to' in spoken German?
Yes! For regular verbs, spoken German usually prefers the spoken past tense (using a helper verb like hast). But for modal verbs like wollen, native speakers almost always use the simple past tense (wolltest) even in everyday casual conversation.
Why does it say die Prüfung machen instead of using a word for 'take'?
In German, you don't 'take' an exam. The most common way to express this is eine Prüfung machen (literally 'to make an exam'). If it is a written test, you might also hear eine Prüfung schreiben (to write an exam).
Why isn't the verb right after aber? Doesn't the verb usually come second?
aber (but) is a connecting word that does not count towards the word order. It sits in 'position zero'. That means the subject du is in position 1, and the conjugated verb wolltest stays correctly in position 2.