B2-4 · Reporting claims with sollen and wollen
Emotions at work
Distinguish reports from other people and claims about personal conduct with subjective modal verbs.
About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions
01
Who says the team is upset?
A meeting has left the team unsettled. In reports, sollen can mean 'is said to', rather than 'should'. The speaker passes on someone else's information without confirming it.
Die Teamleiterin soll über die Kritik verärgert sein.
The team leader is said to be annoyed about the criticism.
Zwei Kollegen sollen mit der Stimmung unzufrieden sein.
Two colleagues are said to be dissatisfied with the atmosphere.
Der neue Mitarbeiter soll sehr einfühlsam sein.
The new employee is said to be very empathetic.
Diese Berichte bestätigen die Vorwürfe nicht.
These reports do not confirm the accusations.
Here sollen marks a report. Context matters: Sie soll zuhören can also be an instruction. A sentence about how someone is said to feel makes the reporting use clearer.
02
A claim about personal conduct
Wollen can mark a person's claim about themselves. With a past infinitive, Er will ruhig geblieben sein means he claims to have stayed calm. It does not describe a future wish.
Der Kollege will ruhig geblieben sein.
The colleague claims to have stayed calm.
Er will die Enttäuschung nicht bemerkt haben.
He claims not to have noticed the disappointment.
Seine Kollegin will niemanden unterbrochen haben.
His colleague claims not to have interrupted anyone.
Die Kollegin soll das Gespräch abgebrochen haben.
The colleague is said to have broken off the conversation.
For the past, put the participle before haben or sein: bemerkt haben, geblieben sein. Subjective wollen attributes the claim to the subject and often signals the reporter's distance or doubt.
03
Keep claims separate
Compare the source of each statement before drawing a conclusion. Sollen passes on a report; wollen introduces the person's own account. A question can then invite that person to explain what happened.
Mara soll nach der Sitzung enttäuscht gewesen sein.
Mara is said to have been disappointed after the meeting.
Jonas will sachlich geblieben sein.
Jonas claims to have remained objective.
Er will den Ärger seiner Kollegin verstanden haben.
He claims to have understood his colleague's anger.
Wie hast du dich während der Sitzung gefühlt?
How did you feel during the meeting?
These forms are common in distanced reporting. In a sensitive conversation, ask about feelings directly instead of treating a reported claim as an established fact.
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