German Modal Verbs, Direction, and Telling the Time

1. Modal verbs

Modal verbs do not describe the action itself. They express an attitude toward the action, such as necessity, possibility, permission, or desire.

Verb	Meaning
müssen	must, to be required to
sollen	should or to be expected to because another person says so
können	can, to be able to
dürfen	may, to be allowed to
wollen	to want to
mögen	to like or have a preference for
möchte	would like

2. Conjugation of modal verbs

In the first- and third-person singular, German modal verbs do not have a personal ending.

Ich kann Deutsch sprechen.
I can speak German.

Er muss heute arbeiten.
He has to work today.

3. Word order with a modal verb

Part of the sentence	Position
Subject	usually in position 1
Conjugated modal verb	in position 2
Other information	in the middle of the sentence
Main verb in the infinitive	at the end of the sentence

Ich muss diesen Artikel übersetzen.
I have to translate this article.

Ich möchte diesen Artikel nicht übersetzen.
I would not like to translate this article.

The negation nicht often stands before the main verb in the infinitive.

4. Direction of movement: wohin?

The question word wohin? asks about the destination or direction of movement.

Question	Meaning
Wohin?	Where to?

When movement is directed toward a destination, the two-way prepositions in and auf take the accusative case.

Preposition + article	Contracted form
in + das	ins
auf + das	aufs

5. Examples of movement toward a destination

German example	English meaning
Wir fahren ins Büro.	We are going to the office.
Wir gehen ins Kino.	We are going to the cinema.
Wir gehen ins Theater.	We are going to the theater.
Wir fahren aufs Land.	We are going to the countryside.
Wir gehen aufs Konzert.	We are going to the concert.
Wir gehen in die Universität.	We are going to the university.
Wir gehen in die Bibliothek.	We are going to the library.
Wir gehen in die Schule.	We are going to school.
Wir fahren in den Klub.	We are going to the club.
Wir gehen in den Park.	We are going to the park.
Wir gehen in den Sportsaal.	We are going to the gym.

6. The impersonal pronoun es

Es is used in impersonal sentences.

Use	Example	Meaning
Weather	Es ist kalt.	It is cold.
General condition	Es ist warm.	It is warm.
Day of the week	Es ist Montag.	It is Monday.
Time of day	Es ist Abend.	It is evening.

The verb after es is in the third-person singular.

7. Asking for the time

Question	Meaning
Wie spät ist es?	What time is it?
Wie viel Uhr ist es?	What time is it?

8. Telling the time

German form	English meaning
Es ist drei Uhr.	It is three o'clock.
Es ist zehn Uhr.	It is ten o'clock.
Es ist halb drei.	It is half past two.
Es ist halb zehn.	It is half past nine.
Es ist zehn Minuten nach drei.	It is ten past three.
Es ist Viertel nach drei.	It is a quarter past three.
Es ist zehn Minuten vor drei.	It is ten to three.
Es ist Viertel vor drei.	It is a quarter to three.

9. Time periods

Construction	Meaning
von ... bis ...	from ... to ...

Der Kollege arbeitet von neun Uhr bis halb sieben.
The colleague works from nine o'clock until half past six.

10. What to remember

Topic	Main rule
Modal verbs	The conjugated modal verb stands in the second position.
Infinitive	The main verb stands in the infinitive at the end of the sentence.
Direction	The question wohin? asks about movement toward a destination.
in / auf	Use the accusative when expressing movement toward a destination.
es	It is used in impersonal sentences.
Time	German uses Uhr, halb, nach, and vor to tell the time.