German modal verbs — können, müssen, wollen, sollen, dürfen, and mögen — are some of the most useful words you can learn early on. They let you express what you can, must, want, should, may, or like to do, and they unlock huge chunks of natural-sounding German almost overnight.
Two things make them feel new: the conjugation is irregular (singular forms drop their umlaut and lose the -t ending in third person), and the main verb gets pushed to the end of the sentence in its infinitive form. The exercises below let you drill both at once.
Exercise 1: Können vs. Müssen
A focused warm-up with the two most-used modals: können ("can / be able to") and müssen ("must / have to"). Type the correct singular or plural form to match the subject.
Exercise 2: Modal Verbs
Now all six modals are in play — können, müssen, wollen, sollen, dürfen, and the polite möchten. Use the meaning of the sentence to pick the right one, then conjugate it for the subject.
Exercise 3: Modal Verbs
A final mixed round across everyday situations — plans, advice, prohibitions, wishes. Notice how the main verb (gehen, trinken, bestehen, kommen) always lands at the very end of the sentence.