A2-2 · What we could, had to and wanted to do

School days

Remember school subjects, teachers and grades using modal verbs in the Präteritum.

About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions

Two adults look at a school photo beside notebooks, a ruler and a small classroom chalkboard.

What school required

Nora remembers her school timetable. Modal verbs often use the Präteritum even in spoken stories. Müssen becomes musste, and können becomes konnte. The other verb stays in the infinitive at the end.

Ich musste jeden Tag Hausaufgaben machen.

I had to do homework every day.

Wir mussten viele Vokabeln lernen.

We had to learn lots of vocabulary.

Ich konnte gut rechnen.

I could do arithmetic well.

Wir konnten im Musikunterricht singen.

We could sing in music lessons.

The past forms lose the umlaut: müssen → musste, können → konnte. With wir, add -n: wir mussten, wir konnten.

Rules and wishes

A school rule and a personal wish are different. Durfte describes permission in the past. Wollte describes what someone wanted. Sollte can report a teacher's instruction.

Wir durften in der Pause draußen spielen.

We were allowed to play outside during the break.

Im Unterricht durfte ich nicht telefonieren.

I was not allowed to make phone calls during lessons.

Ich wollte eine gute Note bekommen.

I wanted to get a good grade.

Laut meiner Lehrerin sollte ich den Text noch einmal lesen.

According to my teacher, I was supposed to read the text again.

Learn dürfen → durfte, wollen → wollte and sollen → sollte. Ich and er or sie have the same form. A plural subject uses durften, wollten or sollten.

A conversation about school

Nora asks Ben about his favourite subjects. In questions with du, the past forms end in -st. A question word comes first, then the modal verb. In a yes-or-no question, the modal comes first.

Konntest du damals gut zeichnen?

Could you draw well back then?

Ja, ich mochte Kunst sehr.

Yes, I liked art very much.

Was musstest du für die Prüfung lernen?

What did you have to learn for the exam?

Ich musste die Regeln wiederholen.

I had to revise the rules.

Compare du konntest with ich konnte, and du musstest with ich musste. Mochte describes liking something in the past. It has no umlaut; möchte expresses a present wish.

Ready to try it?

Check what you remember with 12 short questions.