Lesson 14 of 69 · A1, Unit 4: Building sentences
Can, must, want: modal verbs
Modal verbs say whether you can, must, want to, may, or should do something. The modal is conjugated in second position and the main verb goes to the very end of the sentence, in the infinitive: Ich kann heute nicht kommen.
Modals are irregular in the singular — ich kann, du kannst, er kann — and the ich and er forms are identical, with no -t.
By the end you can:
- conjugate können, müssen, wollen, dürfen, and sollen
- send the main verb to the end of the sentence
- ask permission and say what you must or want to do
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