Improve your lifestyle: modal verbs 'müssen', 'dürfen', 'wollen' + infinitive | German

Starter quiz

German vowels are short when ...
- followed by a single consonant.
- followed by the letter ‘h’.
- there is a double vowel.
- followed by more than one consonant. ✓
- they have an umlaut.
Match the German and English.
- Computerspiel (nt)
  
  ⇔
  
  computer game ✓
- Farbe (f)
  
  ⇔
  
  colour ✓
- Hose (f)
  
  ⇔
  
  trousers ✓
- Karte (f)
  
  ⇔
  
  ticket ✓
- Ort (m)
  
  ⇔
  
  place ✓
- Stück (nt)
  
  ⇔
  
  piece ✓
Match the German and English.
- bekommen
  
  ⇔
  
  to get, getting ✓
- nehmen
  
  ⇔
  
  to take, taking ✓
- reden
  
  ⇔
  
  to talk, talking ✓
- sehen
  
  ⇔
  
  to see, seeing ✓
- tragen
  
  ⇔
  
  to wear, carry ✓
- vergessen
  
  ⇔
  
  to forget, forgetting ✓
Sort the words below into the correct order to form the following sentence: 'He speaks about his new band.'
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  er
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  spricht
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  über
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  seine
- 5
  
  ⇔
  
  neue
- 6
  
  ⇔
  
  Band
Translate the following sentence into English: 'Mein Lieblingstier ist ein Hund.'
- 'My favourite animal is a dog.' ✓
Translate the following sentence into German: 'Her parents listen to music.'
- 'Ihre Eltern hören Musik.' ✓

Which of these words have a long [ü] sound?
- Brüder ✓
- fünf
- türkisch
- Frühling ✓
- Glück
Match the German and English.
- gesund
  
  ⇔
  
  healthy ✓
- glücklich
  
  ⇔
  
  happy ✓
- krank
  
  ⇔
  
  ill, sick ✓
- ruhig
  
  ⇔
  
  quiet, calm ✓
- traurig
  
  ⇔
  
  sad ✓
Sort the words below into the correct order to form the following sentence: 'You can read a book.'
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  du
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  kannst
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  ein
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  Buch
- 5
  
  ⇔
  
  lesen
'Ich muss nicht schwimmen.'. Choose the correct translation.
- I don't want to swim.
- I must not swim.
- I am not allowed to swim.
- I don't have to swim. ✓
- I can't swim.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'He is not allowed to cook.'
- 'Er darf nicht kochen.' ✓
Translate the following sentence into German: 'I don't want a biscuit.'
- 'Ich will keinen Keks.' ✓

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[ü] is pronounced long as in 'Tür' or short as in 'fünf'.
Modal verbs express ideas of necessity or possibility (must, can, want).
Modal verbs are used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, which goes to the end of the sentence (two-verb rule).
Modal verbs include ‘müssen’ - to have to, must; ‘dürfen’ - to be allowed to, may; ‘wollen’ - to want to.
Put 'nicht' before an infinitive ('Ich muss nicht singen') but forms of 'kein' before nouns ('Er will kein Buch lesen').

The infinitive follows the conjugated verb, as in the English 'I can play'.

In German, the infinitive is placed at the end of a sentence when used with a modal verb, as in 'Ich kann spielen.'.

[ü] - pronounced long as in 'Tür' or short as in 'fünf'
Modal verb - expresses ideas of necessity or possibility (must, can, want, allowed); used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive
Two-verb rule - position of the 2nd verb at the end of two-verb sentences, e.g., 'Ich will jetzt Obst essen.'
Nicht - 'not'
Keinen, keine, kein - 'not a'