Ich bin Ingenieurin: imperfect modals | German | Quizalize & Oak National Academy

Starter quiz

Match the German with the English.

das Studium

⇔

study, studies ✓

der Vogel

⇔

bird ✓

persönlich

⇔

personal, personally ✓

der Mitarbeiter

⇔

employee, co-worker ✓

die Oma

⇔

grandma ✓

studieren

⇔

to study, studying (at university) ✓
Match the German with the English.

wäre

⇔

(I, she, he, it) were, would be ✓

das Abitur

⇔

school leaving exam, A levels ✓

die Hochschulbildung

⇔

higher education ✓

die Rede

⇔

speech, talk ✓

entstehen

⇔

to originate, develop ✓

sobald

⇔

as soon as ✓
How would you pronounce [o] in the words in the following sentence? 'Bertolt kocht oft tolle Gerichte.'

long [o] only

short [o] only ✓

both long and short [o]
How would you pronounce [ö] in the words in the following sentence? 'Der König hat viele schöne Vögel.'

long [ö] only ✓

short [ö] only

both long and short [ö]
Match the German with the English.

dürfen

⇔

to be allowed, may ✓

können

⇔

to be able to, can ✓

müssen

⇔

to have to, must ✓

wollen

⇔

to want to ✓

sollen

⇔

to ought to, be supposed to, should ✓
How would you say 'I wanted' in the imperfect tense in German?

'ich wollte' ✓

Exit quiz

Match the German with the English.

öffnen

⇔

to open, opening ✓

sich kümmern um

⇔

to take care of, be concerned about ✓

der Flughafen

⇔

airport ✓

die Technik

⇔

technology ✓
Match the German with the English.

lösen

⇔

to solve, solving ✓

der Arbeitgeber

⇔

employer ✓

das Gehalt

⇔

salary, pay, earnings, wages ✓

technisch

⇔

technical ✓

ungewöhnlich

⇔

unusual, unusually ✓
Match the modal verb to its meaning.

durftest

⇔

(you) were allowed to ✓

musste

⇔

(I) had to ✓

durfte

⇔

(she) wanted to ✓

solltest

⇔

(you) were supposed to ✓

musstest

⇔

(you) had to ✓

sollte

⇔

(I) was supposed to ✓
Match the verb forms to the correct pronouns.

wolltest

⇔

du ✓

wollten

⇔

wir ✓

wollte

⇔

ich ✓

wolltet

⇔

ihr ✓
Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'My grandfather wanted to marry my grandmother.'

1

⇔

mein

2

⇔

Großvater

3

⇔

wollte

4

⇔

meine

5

⇔

Großmutter

6

⇔

heiraten
How would you say 'you (singular, informal) were allowed to' in German?

'Du durftest' ✓

Worksheet

Loading worksheet ...

Presentation

Loading presentation ...

Video

Lesson Details

Key learning points

[o] and [ö] are long when followed by no consonants or only one consonant.
To form the imperfect of singular modal verbs, remove -en and add -te for ‘ich’, -test for ‘du’, -te for ‘sie/er/es’.
To form the imperfect of plural modal verbs, remove -en and add -ten for ‘wir’, -tet for ‘ihr’, -ten for ‘sie’.
In sentences with modal verbs, the second verb is in the infinitive at the end of the sentence.

Common misconception

Modal verbs must add ge- in the imperfect tense.

Modal verbs are normally used in the imperfect to describe past events. The imperfect is a different tense from the perfect and is formed differently.

Keywords

Imperfect tense - verb tense used most often for modal verbs when they describe past events
Modal verb - verb of necessity or possibility used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, e.g., must, can, want