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In the present and past tenses, the modal is conjugated and the clause ends with an infinitive:
modal auxiliary 1 complement 1 infinitive
Ich muss 1 zu Hause 1 bleiben.
I have to stay home.
Present tense
Ich muss auf ihn warten.
Das darfst du nicht tun.
Past tense
Sie konnte ihn kaum verstehen.
Tina wollte Lehrerin werden.
Er sollte früher aufstehen.
I have to wait for him.
You’re not allowed to do that.
She could hardly understand him.
Tina wanted to become a teacher.
He should get up earlier.
You should be aware that mögen has a high-frequency usage as would like, where it is conjugated
in the subjunctive:
Subjunctive
Erik möchte mitkommen.
Erik would like to come along.
In the perfect and future tenses, a so-called double infinitive structure occurs at the end of
the clause, with the modal auxiliary following its partner infinitive:
Sie hat es nicht lesen wollen.
Das hättest du nicht sagen sollen.
Er wird nicht mitfahren dürfen.
She didn’t want to read it.
You shouldn’t have said that.
He won’t be allowed to go along.
When a double infinitive structure occurs in a subordinate clause (following conjunctions
such as dass, weil, ob, and so on), the conjugated verb stands directly in front of the double
infinitive:
Ich wusste nicht, dass sie es nicht hat
lesen wollen.
Sie war empört, weil du es nicht hättest
sagen sollen.
Weißt du, ob er wird mitfahren dürfen?
I didn’t know that she didn’t want to read it.
She was outraged, because you shouldn’t have
said that.
Do you know if he will be allowed to go along?
This kind of word order in subordinate clauses is also used with all other double infinitive structures
that will be described in this chapter.
Lassen
When the verb lassen stands alone in a sentence, its meaning is to let or leave. But lassen can be
used together with an infinitive. In such a case, its meaning is to have or get. For example:
Lass den Kindern den Spaß!
Ich lasse meinen Wagen reparieren.
Ließ sie sich ein neues Kleid machen?
Let the children have their fun.
I get my car repaired.
Did she have a new dress made?
And when it is used with the reflexive sich, lassen has a passive meaning, which in English often
includes the meaning can. In this passive structure, the verbal element is again an infinitive and
not a participle:
Solche Probleme lassen sich nicht leicht
lösen.
Es ließ sich nicht beweisen.
Das hat sich nicht leugnen lassen.
Such problems are not easily solved.
It wasn’t proved.
It couldn’t be denied.
92 Practice Makes Perfect German Sentence Builder