Past Tense of German Modal Verbs in Perfekt & Präteritum

Do you use the Perfekt tense of Präteritum tense with modal verbs in German?

Ich habe nach Hause gehen wollen. -
I wanted to go home.

If that looks overwhelming, confusing or just plain dumb, that’s actually exactly what German native speakers think, so instead, they use the Präteritum tense most of the time with the modal verbs; mögen, müssen, dürfen, können, sollen and wollen.

Hey! What happened to “möchten”?

That’s not a real modal verb. I’ll explain in a bit.

This lesson explains modal verbs in the past tenses in German. If you want to learn about modal verbs in the present tense, click here.

When to Use the Perfekt Tense with Modal Verbs in German

If you don’t have a secondary verb to go with the modal verb and you are talking about the past, use the Perfekt forms of the modal verbs. Since you only have to know the Partizip II of each of them, this should be pretty easy. For example:

Ich habe den Film gar nicht gemocht. -
I didn’t like the film at all.

Er hat dringend auf die Toilette gemusst. -
He really had to go to the bathroom.

Das habe ich nicht gedurft. -
I wasn’t allowed to do that.

Sie hat es damals nicht gekonnt. -
She wasn’t able to do it then.

Das Kind hat das nicht gesollt. -
The child should not have done that.

Ich habe keinen Furby gewollt. -
I didn’t want a Furby.

Basically, when you don’t have a secondary verb with your modal verb, you can use the Perfekt tense. The Partizip II for each of those verbs are:

Honestly, I probably would have only used the Perfekt tense to say the first and last sentences: Ich habe den Film gar nicht gemocht. and Ich habe keinen Furby gewollt. For all of the other sentences, I would have used the Präteritum tense instead.

What happens if you do add an extra verb into the mix?

“Mögen” usually isn’t used with a secondary verb, so I will skip that.

Er hat dringend auf die Toilette gehen müssen. -
He really had to go to the bathroom.

Ich habe keine Süßigkeiten essen dürfen. -
I wasn’t allowed to eat any sweets.

Sie hat damals die Zeit nicht lesen können. -
She wasn’t able to read the time back then.

Das Kind hat das andere Kind nicht schlagen sollen. -
The child should not have hit the other child.

Ich habe keinen Furby bekommen wollen. -
I didn’t want to get a Furby.

Why Use Präteritum Tense with Modal Verbs in German

I would have phrased absolutely none of these sentences like this in reality. While you do have to learn the entire conjugation of each verb in the Präteritum tense, it does make the sentences easier to use. Here are the same sentences in the Präteritum tense. I’ll also add back in the one using “mögen”.

Ich mochte den Film gar nicht. -
I didn’t like the film at all.

Er musste dringend auf die Toilette gehen. -
He really had to go to the bathroom.

Ich durfte keine Süßigkeiten essen. -
I wasn’t allowed to eat any sweets.

Sie konnte damals die Zeit nicht lesen. -
She wasn’t able to read the time back then.

Das Kind sollte das andere Kind nicht schlagen. -
The child should not have hit the other child.

Ich wollte keinen Furby bekommen. -
I didn’t want to get a Furby.

Simply conjugate the modal verb verb in the Präteritum tense and put the other verb at the end of the sentence in the infinitive form. No need for a form of “haben” or “sein” when using a modal verb in the Präteritum tense.

Why "möchten" is a Pretend Verb

Did you notice that the verb “mögen” changed to “mochte” in the Präteritum tense sentence? That is the reason I said earlier that “möchten” isn’t a real modal verb. If you add an umlaut to the Präteritum tense form of a verb, you almost always create the Konjunktiv 2.

With this verb, that’s exactly what happened. The Präteritum tense of “mögen” is “mochte”. Add an umlaut and you get “möchte”. That’s how we got from “mögen” (to like) to “möchten” (would like).

All Präteritum Lessons

6 German Tenses vs 12 English Tenses

Präteritum Basics with Regular Verbs

Präteritum with Irregular Verbs

Präteritum with haben & sein

Past Tense of Modal Verbs

How to Conjugate Modal Verbs in Präteritum

Anyway, back to the Präteritum forms of German modal verbs. Here are all of the conjugations of all of the modal verbs in this tense.

Once you learn the conjugations, it is simply a matter of plugging them into your sentences and adding the infinitive of the other verb to the end of the sentence.

When Konjunktiv 2 and Präteritum Collide 

One other thing you should know is that the Präteritum version and the Konjunktiv II version of “sollen” is the same for both, “sollte”. This means, it could be a recommendation in the present tense or it might be a statement about what someone should have done in the past, but the conjugation itself does not tell us which it is. You would have to rely on context for that. For example:

Du solltest deinen Bruder nicht schlagen. -
You shouldn’t hit your brother. (recommendation)
OR
You shouldn’t have hit your brother. (statement about the past)

Examples of German Modal Verbs in Präteritum

Here are a few more examples to make sure you know what you are doing with the modal verbs in the Präteritum tense.

Ich wollte immer nach Japan reisen. -
I always wanted to travel to Japan.

Du durftest damals keinen Kaffee trinken. -
You weren’t allowed to drink coffee back then.

Wir mussten den Zug nehmen, weil kein Bus zur Verfügung stand. -
We had to take the train, because there was no bus available.

Wir konnten den Berg ohne Hilfe besteigen. -
We could climb the mountain without help.

Wir sollten uns um 10 Uhr am Bahnhof treffen. -
We should have met at the train station at 10 o’clock.

Sie konnte sich alles leicht merken. -
She could memorize everything easily.

Sie durfte den geheimen Bereich im Museum betreten. -
She was allowed to enter the secret area in the museum.

Wir wollten das Spiel sehen, aber es hat geregnet. -
We wanted to watch the game, but it rained.

Mochtest du die Filme von diesem Regisseur? -
Did you like the films by this director?

Er durfte nicht mit uns zum Konzert gehen. -
He was not allowed to go to the concert with us.

Er mochte früher keine Tomaten. -
He didn’t used to like tomatoes.

Ich konnte gestern nicht kommen, weil ich krank war. -
I couldn’t come yesterday, because I was sick.

Sie sollte sich bei ihm entschuldigen. -
She should have apologized to him.

Wir durften früher gehen, da wir fertig waren. -
We were allowed to leave earlier, because we were finished.

Sie wollte ein neues Kleid kaufen. -
She wanted to buy a new dress.

Sie musste früh ins Bett gehen, da sie müde war. -
She had to go to bed early, because she was tired.

Now that you have mastered the modal verbs in the past tense, its time you really practiced what you learned from this lesson. When you become a member of my Deutschlerner Club, you get access to extra materials for every lesson I upload to YouTube and this website. Check it out and join today!