German Modal Verbs in the Preterite
After briefly reviewing the basics of the Präteritum, in this chapter we will turn to the Präteritum forms of modal verbs, which, unlike most forms of the Präteritum, we also use in spoken language.
When using modal verbs, regardless of whether we use them in the present tense or the past tense, we need to remember their conjugation, as they follow an irregular conjugation pattern.
Notice that the first person and third person singular are always identical. The word order in a sentence using a modal verb remains the same, both in the present tense and the past tense: “modal verb + infinitive verb”. The conjugated form of the modal verb is in second position (regular word order), and the verb in the infinitive is at the end of the clause or sentence.
Examples:
Ich muss jeden Tag arbeiten. I must/have to work every day.
Ich musste jeden Tag arbeiten. I had to work everyday.
Er will nicht auf die Party gehen. He doesn’t want to go to the party.
Er wollte nicht auf die Party gehen. He didn’t want to go to the party.
The nice thing about the Präteritum forms for modal verbs is that they are actually less complicated than the present forms, because they are conjugated like regular verbs and no longer have a vowel change. Interestingly, “möchten” does not have its own Präteritum form, instead the Präteritm form of “wollen” is used.
