Modal Verbs – Free Exercise

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Exercises

Complete the gaps with the present tense of the modal verbs in brackets.

  1. Ich (können)   dir helfen.modal verbs in the 1st and 3rd person singular don’t take an ending
    all singular forms of können are with a instead of ö → ich kann, du kannst, er/sie/es kann    I can help you.
  2. Ihr (müssen)   noch viel lernen.2nd person plural → müsstYou still have a lot to learn.
  3. Du (dürfen)   heute früher nach Hause gehen.all singular forms of dürfen are with a instead of ü → ich darf, du darfst, er/sie/es darfYou may go home early today.
  4. Er (wollen)   nachher einkaufen gehen.modal verbs in the 1st and 3rd person singular don’t take an ending
    all singular forms of wollen are with i instead of o → ich will, du willst, er/sie/est will    He wants to go shopping later.
  5. Ihr (sollen)   eure Hausaufgaben machen.2nd person plural → solltYou should do your homework.

Complete the gaps with the simple past of the modal verbs in brackets.

  1. Wir (wollen)   dich nicht stören.1st person plural: add the ending -ten to the root of the verbWe didn’t want to disturb you.
  2. Er (müssen)   zeitig aufstehen.3nd person singular: add the ending -te to the root of the verb and remove the umlautHe had to get up early.
  3. Ihr (können)   es nicht sehen.2nd person plural: add the ending -tet to the root of the verb and remove the umlautYou weren’t able to see it.
  4. Ich (dürfen)   es euch nicht sagen.1st person singular: add the ending -te to the root of the verb and remove the umlautI wasn’t allowed to tell you.
  5. Du (sollen)   den Abwasch machen.2nd person singular: add the ending -test to the root of the verbYou were supposed to do the dishes.

Use the words in brackets and the present perfect tense to make sentences.

  1. (er/können/bleiben)  .subject + conjugated form of haben + main verb infinitive + modal verb infinitiveHe could have stayed.
  2. (du/sollen/nachsitzen)  .subject + conjugated form of haben + main verb infinitive + modal verb infinitiveYou should have got detention.
  3. (wir/müssen/Liegestütze machen)  .subject + conjugated form of haben + object + main verb infinitive + modal verb infinitiveWe had to do press-ups.
  4. (ihr/dürfen/nicht/das/machen)  . subject + conjugated form of haben + object + nicht + main verb infinitive + modal verb infinitiveYou weren’t allowed to do that.
  5. (ich/wollen/nicht/streiten)  .subject + conjugated form of haben + nicht + main verb infinitive + modal verb infinitiveI didn’t want to argue.