Breakdown of Ich musste den Führerschein machen.
ich
I
machen
to make, to do
müssen
to have to, must
der Führerschein
the driver's license
Questions & Answers about Ich musste den Führerschein machen.
How do you say 'had to' in German, since 'must' doesn't have a past tense in English?
In English, we change 'must' to 'had to' for the past tense. In German, the verb müssen (to have to / must) just uses its own simple past form: musste. So, Ich musste directly translates to 'I had to'.
Would a German actually say Ich musste in normal conversation, or use the spoken past tense (Perfekt)?
Even in casual spoken German, where the spoken past (Perfekt) is normally used, modal verbs are a big exception. Germans almost always use the simple past (Präteritum) forms like musste, wollte, or konnte instead of saying ich habe gemusst.
Why does the German sentence use machen (to make or do) instead of a word for 'get'?
In German, you don't 'get' or 'receive' a driver's license. The standard phrase for going through the process of taking lessons and passing the test is einen Führerschein machen (literally 'to make a driver's license').
Why is machen at the very end of the sentence?
When you use a modal verb like musste, it takes the second position in the sentence. The main action verb (in this case, machen) gets pushed all the way to the end in its basic dictionary form (the infinitive).
Why is it den Führerschein instead of der Führerschein?
Führerschein is a masculine noun. Because it is the direct object of the sentence (the thing being 'made'), it needs to be in the accusative case. This causes the masculine word for 'the' to change from der to den.
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