Start Speaking German Fast With Essential Modal Verbs Today!

Hi everyone, my name is Sandra and I am a professional German teacher. I am so happy to be your guide through the secrets of the German language. Let's see if this course is for you. So, you know some basic bits and pieces about the German language. You took a short course, learned some basics, remembered some things from high school or watched a few movies. You are not a complete beginner, but also not even close to intermediate. You understand some basic words and a few swear words, but still don't feel confident about speaking German, even if your life would depend on it. and you don't know which next step to take. How to get from I know how to tell my name and recite a random German phrase to the solution is to expand your vocabulary and to learn grammatical forms that are useful and easy to learn. The modal verbs are two for one in this case. By learning them, you expand your vocabulary and grammatical knowledge. They are often used, easy to master, and highly adjustable to your needs or abilities. They can help you gain fluency or even escape from an uncomfortable situation when you get stuck while speaking. Besides that, I did my best to make this course as fun, motivating, dynamic, and short as possible. The lessons are short, engaging, colorful, and fun. And I guarantee you that this course will not bore you. So, what are you waiting for? The German model verbs are waiting for you. Hi everyone, my name is Sandra and I will be your guide through the secrets of German modal verbs. In this course, you will find out who are these modal verbs I'm talking about. You'll see why they're different from all the other verbs in the universe. You will learn exactly when and how to use them in different situations, sentences, and tenses. And you will get a proper amount of interesting exercises and games because we don't want it to get boring. At the end of the course, you will be confident in using model verbs while speaking and writing German. So, let's begin. What are modal verbs and why are they so special? You must be asking yourself, what are modal verbs and why are they so special that you need a whole course just about them? Stick with me and I will show you the dayto-day life of a normal everyday average modal verb. Yes, that's him. What are modal verbs? So, first of all, let's answer this one simple but crucial question. Who is this model verb we are talking about? Modal verbs are often called auxiliary verbs in English. Oh, whatever. Let's just keep it simple. They are the verbs that you will use to express some kind of obligation, ability, likehood, or permission. Meaning something you want to or like to do, can do, should do, could do but don't want to, must do but can't. Can do but shouldn't. You got it. We want to go to the movies. I have to go to work. Okay, this was a sad one. Something better. He can play football really well. Fun fact. Did you know how hard it is to draw a good football? Did you know that Germany is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups and three European championships. The correct way to write it is fbal met like this and not fbal with double s. This is an often spelling error. So watch out. Modal verbs are really important verbs in the German language and often used. If you know how to correctly use them, it will help you to gain fluency while speaking in expressing your thoughts and ideas or sometimes simply help yourself when you can't figure out the right verb or don't know how to use a verb in a specific tense. But we'll explain that little trick later on. So, if you want to become a master in German, and I know you do, modal verbs are your friends, and you really need to know these verbs and use them without even thinking. So, let's make that happen. Why are they so special? All verbs are equal, but some verbs are more equal than others. And modal verbs tend to be a little bit more special than all the other verbs. And there are two main reasons why. Number one, they don't like to be alone. Well, who does? Modal verbs have a serious case of anxiety, which means that they don't like to be the only verb in the sentence. They are not exactly party animals, but just another more verb in the sentence makes them feel safe, protected, and loved. Aw. So, whenever you have a model verb in your sentence, watch out for the other verb because it will always always be there. Sometimes hidden, sometimes at the other end of the paragraph if you have a long sentence, but it's there. Here you see the other verb. And since German is not a boring language where you just follow the rules, we will of course make it a little bit more interesting and spice it up with a few exceptions. Don't worry, this will only be the case in some informal language, street talk or baby talk, and we will cover some of those examples. So, not chili pepper spiced, just a little bit. Number two, they have a special conjugation. Although it may sound like something from a science fiction movie, conjugation simply means the way a verb changes depending on the person or tense it's referring to. For example, I know. She knows. And there it is. The conjugation. What? You don't see it, but it's right there. Look here. The subtle change of a verb is so that we don't sound like robots. Okay, maybe it is a little bit science fiction. Well, if you already know some bits and pieces about the German grammar, you surely know some of the German conjugations, but you will see that the modal verbs like to varique style. Not only will they not use the regular a st n t n endings for the present tense, they will also change their forms like shape shifters. Okay, totally science fiction. This is just so you have a general overview, but we'll talk about this a little bit more specific in a few lessons. So that's our guy, the modal verb. He doesn't like to be alone, so he always has a verb friend in the sentence. Besides that, he doesn't have the normal endings like the other verbs, but rather likes to do things in his own unique way. He can be funny, sometimes tricky, but you will forgive him because you can use him to express a lot of different things. Now come and meet all the different modal verbs. Hi everyone. >> Our first model verb is kanan. Kanan covers everything from can or be able to to have the skill or knowledge for something and can even mean to have permission. So, this one shouldn't be hard to remember because it's so similar to the English language, but it won't always be this easy. Let's take a look at a few examples. Can you explain the model verbs to me? This one can mean do you understand it and can explain it but can also mean if you would like to explain it to me depends on the context of course. I can and I will use it to ask for help or direction or to make it more polite. Can you please help me? But also, can I take your pen? In this case, you are asking for permission exactly like in the English language or simply if it's true, you can translate it yourself. Our second candidate is miss. Another easy one meaning must or have to. Be careful when you have modal verbs so similar to the English ones because the similarity can sometimes be misleading. So this is a mean one. This is the verb that forces us to do things we often don't want to do. An example would be I have to do my homework. Textbook example. I have to and if I don't there will be consequences. Men expresses a duty or necessity given to me by someone else or myself. like I have to go to work. I have to go to the dentist. No, hopefully not both in one day or there is no milk left. So I have to drink the coffee without milk. This is due to external circumstances. I don't actually have to. I could go to the store and get some milk, but I'm too lazy. I love my coffee like I love my model verbs. Simple but effective. You have to tell me everything. we have to talk about it doesn't sound good. We can also use it with a negation like in As shown in the example above, nm translates into English as need not or doesn't have to rather than must not. And one of the special ones exception is I must. As you can see, we are missing our other verb here. So, it's informal language, but a very useful phrase. Shout this out during a long car ride and the driver will surely stop. Why? Because the rest of the sentence would be go to the toilet. Our third verb is doen. Be permitted allowed to have the permission to do something. Well, this one doesn't have an exact relative in the English language. I am not allowed to eat any more chocolate. My mom told me, the doctor told me or I told it to myself. You can use it to ask for permission. Can I go now? Or mamaish. Mom, am I allowed to or do I have the permission to go to the movies tomorrow? Of course, kid. And if you hear vasine at a restaurant, remember that the waiter is asking you what would you like? In spoken German, you can more or less always use kunan instead of den. Often you will hear this verb in a negative form which would be a prohibition meaning not permitted, not allowed, even forbidden. It's not allowed and probably prohibited by law to smoke here. Or if you see here, better not leave your car there because it's not allowed to park here. Our fourth modal verb is volen. Here you have to be really careful with the meaning and please please don't mix it up with the English will because they don't have anything in common considering their meaning. The German volen would be translated simply as to want something. I want to have an ice, a beer or a lunch. He wants to tell me something. And again some restaurant talk. What would you like to drink? Your answer. Our next one is a little bit tricky. It's the verb m or better to say mush. So what's the trick? They don't even sound the same. The actual verb is the verb m to like something. And he himself is not a modal verb. But during the rich linguistic history of the German language, a special form of this verb, the conv emerged and started to be used as a full verb of its own and today is considered a modal verb. So to sum up, m and mush are two different forms of the same verb. Whereas is used as a so to say normal verb and mush as a model verb. Let's compare is mag ice. I like ice cream. A supernormal ordinary verb is ice. I want to eat an ice cream. See the other verb essen mishton is a fully grown and developed modal verb. So what does mish mean to want something? Sounds familiar? Isn't it the same meaning as of the verb volen? Yes, it is. But mush sounds somewhat politer. And so instead of using the stronger volen you use but the meaning of this sentence is practically the same. Let's compare again. For example, I want a chocolate compared to which we could translate as I would like a chocolate. Sounds much more sophisticated, doesn't it? A few more examples. I want to ask you something. do you want to drink something? But you could also ask in this case it's just a language nuance. And what's your answer? And our last verb is zolen. Simply translated as should. Someone tells you what would be good, nice, or okay for you to do. You should drive slower. It often comes in a form of an advice. You should drink more water. You shouldn't eat so much chocolate and so on. Quick, what's wrong with this sentence? Yeah, I skipped the other verbs with Zolen. It's always up to you whether you listen to the advice or not. But if your angry boss comes and tells you it has to be done by tomorrow, it's not exactly that you have a lot of choice. You can easily replace it with mos. So these are our six proud heroes. Our six model verbs can or is able to. Men to have toen to be allowed or permitted. to want to want. Again, and zolen should. Unfortunately, the German language, like any language, is a wild creature like the Sasquatch. And probably equally hairy and bushy. So, not all examples and possible usages could be covered here, and there is a possibility that you stumble upon something that confuses you or you don't quite understand, like the Sasquatch. This is perfectly normal. So, just take it easy, do a little research, and of course, take a lot of pictures. And before we say anything else about them, I want to be sure that you are 100% sure that you know when to use which one. So our next step is a little quiz to check. [Music] How does a model verb conjugate? We talked about conjugation before. Remember, it's the science fiction thing. It's like going to space for humans, except every verb does it. Yes, they are much more advanced than we are. It's the changing of the verb through different persons or tenses. All the other verbs they are special. Remember as you already know our regular everyday normal verb conjugates in the present tense with the help of these endings est ten. For example the verb gen to go. Let's take a look. First, we cut off the en ending. It's the ending of the infinitive form. It's the basic unchanged form of the verb which we use for all other operations. It's well like it says infinitive. It belongs to no time or space. And the en is the standard infinitive ending in German. Remember this because we will need it later. When the surgery is over and the infinitive ending is safely removed, we are left with the stem or the base of the verb and can continue to attach our endings for the present form. It's a long and hard operation, but the verb usually survives and recovers really quickly. Look at the verb g. It's ready to go. G Z S gate v gate z. And now let's look at the verb m is dust. A z v z mus I'll give you 10 seconds to try and discover what is different with this verb t And so the first and most obvious difference is umloud. No umloud. What is um loud? The little dots above the a, o, or u in German, the smiley face. And remember that the model verbs will never have an umlout and a singular forms. The first three is dsloud. No except mush. He's the special of the specials. Second difference, no endings in the first and third person singular is a zs. So no ending ending no ending. So Z. Great. Are you ready for the next one? Let's take a look at canon. What happens here? Zen. So we also don't have an ending in first and third person singular. That will be a rule with all the modal verbs. Plural is again totally normal with our normal endings. And remember that the modal verbs will never have an singular forms. Omloud. No ll. But here it's not just the little umlout dots that make a difference. No, it's also changing into a. Why? Nobody knows. It's a secret. He's totally crazy. can via zon. Okay, now we can take a little break and take a look at an easy one. Zenz via zolen zen. It's just no endings here and that's it. Admit it, you got used to expect a little bit more spectacular things from the model verbs by now and are a little bit bored with this one. So quickly to the next volen z ven z volen. It's our usual no ending here and here. He didn't lose or get an umlout because he didn't even have one. But look at this. The O changed into I. Why? Top secret. No ending ending. No ending. And changes O into I in singular is [Music] D. air z via derf z der derfan lost his beautiful smiley face in singular like all of them do and he has no endings here and here but he also changed his smiley to an a. Why? I told you already. It's a secret. Don't question the ways and methods of the model verbs. They will have to kill you. Again, no ending. Ending. No ending. Smiley face. Uh changes into a den is mush is as always well special. Take a look at him. Z. What do you notice exactly? He has a perfectly normal not verb like conjugation. Nothing changes and all endings are here. He comes with an umlout and keeps it. and he also gets to keep his endings all the way. He is a spoiled child. So there it is, the magical transforming of the modal verbs. Unlike the normal regular verbs, modal verbs don't have an ending in the first and third person singular is and a z. If they come with an umlout, they lose it in the first three persons. Besides that, some of them like to change a little bit in the singular form along the way. Den is volenville. Plus, Zolan is so nice and stays the same. And we have the spoiled child Mush who gets to keep his endings and Oml. Excellent. And now finally the quiz. [Music] How does a model verb behave in a sentence? Like a bully. I know that you got to know and love our model verb. And you know that he loves other verbs. So it may be hard for you to believe that he misbehaves. But let me show you a simple example and you will understand what I'm talking about. You are going to work. Here is our so to say normal verb. And now let's bring a model verb into the ring. You have to go to work. You see? You see what he did? Let's take a look at it again in slow motion. Will you try to figure it out for yourself again? Okay, pay attention and try to find two major things that happened. [Music] You see? You see what he did? The model verb punched the other verb, which then flies with a steady altitude of 76°, loses its speed after 16 cm or 6.29 in or 0.52 ft, and lands up all the way back at the end of the sentence. And if that wasn't enough, the modal verb even took his lunch money, I mean ending, and left him with a plain infinitive ending. E N. Let's take a look at two more examples of this bullying attitude. You are traveling to Berlin next week. You want to go to Berlin next week. The verb risen travels to the end of the sentence, leaving his place for the modal verb. He loses his ending and is left with the infinitive e ending. Remember the infinitive. She's buying a new car. The meaning stays the same. She wants to buy a new car, but she can't because she doesn't have enough money or a driver's license. So, our model verb loves the company of another verb in the sentence, but doesn't really know how to behave. He pushes the verb to the back of the sentence and takes his ending, leaving him with just the plain infinitive en ending. Shame on you, model verb. For you, it's important to remember that if you have a model verb, the other one will always always be all the way at the end of the sentence. Now, quick finish the quiz in the next chapter. [Music] Using model verbs. How to use model verbs. By now you learned a lot about the model verbs. Who they are and what do they usually do? How do they behave and what do they like? Now, let's see some real life action and practical examples. Of course, the possibilities of using model verbs are endless, but I'll try to show you some often used or helpful phrases. The restaurant. If you don't eat, you die. So getting food is obviously one of the most important parts of surviving in a foreign language. We already mentioned a lot of these examples in a restaurant. You will often be asked or what do you want to drink or do you want to drink something? glass wine better. I'm sorry, I don't have a wine glass. I'm not that classy. You of course noticed that the other verb is missing here. It's a common expression and we all know that you want to drink. So, we can leave it out. The waiter brings you the menu, comes back a moment later, and asks, "Do you want to order?" What would you like to eat? Pick something from the menu. And don't forget to say bitter. Well, the meal was fantastic. And you ask, can I get the check, please? Fast food or imbeign. What would you like? We know that dove means to be permitted, but here it's used in an idiom sentence. I said idom a phrase that is always used in the same form and cannot be translated literally. I want a sausage please. Do you want fries with that? Fun fact, vo is a German specialty and a big part of German cuisine. The Germans have the largest selection of vo worldwide, over 1,500 different kinds. Recipes for the sausage vary by region and even locally. A sausage recipe from a certain area is a closely guarded secret. and a sausage as beloved as the town's soccer team. Thus is sausage to me. Useful German phrase to state it's all the same to me. I couldn't care less. Another German phrase including the sausage. Everything has an ending. Only the sausage has to meaning everything has to come to an end except for the sausage. >> Enough with the sausage. Let's talk about some other useful expressions with model verbs that you can use while traveling. Gogg made a good decision and wants to travel to Germany next year, but he will need to learn a few phrases before he goes. I want to book or buy a ticket to Berlin. And don't forget to check Do I have to transfer? Once you reach the hotel, host, motel, or whatever you will call home for the time of your stay, express your wishes with I'd like a single bed. I'd like a room with a shower. Whatever you want. Asking for directions. If you are traveling, chances are you will get lost. The model verbs will come handy in these kinds of situations, especially this phrase. Sorry, could you please help me? Just start like this. You will get out of a lot of difficult situations. For example, asking for directions. Excuse me, could you please tell me where the train station is? or deepest or does hotel. Somewhere at this point, your conversation partner will probably start answering in a beautiful, fast native German. Didn't understand the word. No problem. Don't panic. Just politely ask this. Can you please repeat that? Could you please speak slower? Or if you really just don't get it, try with Can you show it on the map? Fair prohibitions. When you see this kind of sentences, be very careful because it means that you are not allowed to do something here and could get punished. So, watch out for the dove plus. It's not allowed to park here. It's not allowed to smoke here. And the same way you can use the expression here to ask if you're allowed to do something in this place photograph. Is it allowed to take photos here? Nine FBA can play football. Can't play football. That should be enough for a football conversation. Not as scary as it sounds. Appointments party. Do you want to come to the party on Friday? Of course. Do you want to go to the movies today? Unfortunately, I can't. I have to work. So you can combine or with a simple verb like or common and you can form a fully functional invitation getting stuck difficult verbs. You know this situation your German was just getting really fluent. You said already six words without pausing and your German was feeling so good as if you were born and raised in the center of K. When suddenly it just gets stuck somewhere on the way from your brain to your mouth. or you find yourself confronted with an extremely wild and violent type of verb and you are not brave enough yet to battle it or put it into your sentence. I assume you guessed who you're going to call the model verbs. I already mentioned that model verbs can help you if you get stuck and I'll explain to you what I mean by that. Let's take for example you want to say that your friend is driving to Berlin tomorrow. The verb you want to use is fen and it's an irregular one, a dangerous and wild verb. So the sentence would go, as you can see, there was a huge amount of plastic surgery going on with this verb. even some dots jumping in and similar. So if you don't feel quite confident enough to battle with this irregular conjugation, just put the model verb into the sentence. Why? Because the verb then automatically turns into the infinitive form which always looks the same with the ending en or problem solved. You only have to watch out that you change the modal verb the right way and that the other verb is at the end of the sentence. But you already got all of that, don't you? A few more examples. Let's say we are back at the restaurant again. You place your order and want to ask your conversation and dinner partner what will they order. Can't remember the right verb. Don't know how to use it correctly. Instead of getting confused, just use the model verb. What do you want to eat? Or let's say you want to tell someone to call you on your cell phone. Since an to call is a separable verb, meaning it falls apart in the sentence, instead of setting it apart and picking it up later, probably causing some collateral damage on the way, just use the model verb. You should call me on my cell phone. Of course, the meaning changes a tiny bit, so it's not the perfect solution, but your first and most important goal should be not to get stuck in the conversation. And this can help before you fully develop your communication skills. S is for. [Music] >> As I already mentioned, there are thousands of ways to use the model verbs. So, just be creative. And most important of all, practice. Here's a little tip. Practice when you go about your normal day. The things you say in your mother tongue, try to think about them in German. And if you are not sure, check it out when you get home. And what do a shower, a long car ride, or a meal by yourself have in common? They are the perfect opportunity to practice your German. It may sound silly, but these mental exercises will help you to get more fluent faster without wasting your precious time. Just play some scenarios in your head and try to get by by using German. And of course, there will be a lot of mistakes. That's a normal part of learning. So, just relax. You know how the smart ones say, "The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried." So, practice. Don't be afraid to use what you learned and to make mistakes. And most of all, have fun. [Music] [Music]