GermanFluent

A1 · Modal verbs

müssen

must, have to

FormSubjekt + müssen (Position 2) + ... + Infinitiv (Ende)

Meaning and usage

The modal verb müssen means must or have to. It takes second position and changes for the person. The main verb goes to the end as an infinitive. For example, Ich muss gehen means I must go. The forms are ich muss, du musst, er muss, sie muss (she), es muss, wir müssen, ihr müsst, sie müssen (they), Sie müssen (you formal).

Use müssen for necessity, obligation or strong advice. The main verb does not change: Du musst deine Hände waschen. The mistake to avoid is putting the infinitive in second position or conjugating it. Keep the infinitive at the end.

Examples 4

Test yourself

  1. 1 Sprachbausteine

    Ich heute meine Hausaufgaben machen.

    Show answer

    Correct answer: muss

    The subject ich takes the form muss. The infinitive machen stays at the end.

    • musst is used with du, not ich.
    • müsst is used with ihr, not ich.
    • müssen is used with wir, sie (they) or Sie (formal), not ich.

In this topic: Modal verbs

  1. Modalverb + … + Infinitiv modal verb second, main verb at the end
  2. ich kann, er kann ich and er forms of können: no ending, no umlaut
  3. können can, be able to, know how to
  4. müssen must, have to
  5. wollen want to
  6. möchte would like, polite way to say what you want
  7. dürfen may, be allowed to; asking permission
  8. sollen should, be supposed to, someone else's instruction
  9. mögen to like, mostly with a noun
  10. Verb + gern like doing something
  11. nicht müssen, nicht dürfen not have to vs must not

Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.