KS3 · German · Year 9
Childhood experiences: imperfect modal verbs 'konnte', 'musste', 'wollte'
Past lives and experiences: imperfect modal verbs, perfect tense
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/9
Your learning goal
I can form the imperfect tense of ‘können’, ‘müssen’ and ‘wollen’, and I am aware of aspects of childhood in Germany.
1 of 9
Childhood experiences: imperfect modal verbs 'konnte', 'musste', 'wollte': slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
Original teaching resources
The original illustrated PowerPoint is available as well as the IllumED text slides. It retains the publisher’s design and credits.
Download original PowerPoint ↓What you’ll learn
I can form the imperfect tense of ‘können’, ‘müssen’ and ‘wollen’, and I am aware of aspects of childhood in Germany.
Key learning points
- Months of the year are masculine and borrowed from English, but the stressed syllables are not the same.
- Modal verbs are used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, which comes at the end of the sentence.
- The imperfect tense of modal verbs is commonly used when speaking, as well as when writing.
- Add -te to the verb stem of a modal verb for the 1st and 3rd person singular imperfect tense, e.g., 'er musste'.
- Add -test to the verb stem of a modal verb for the 2nd person singular imperfect tense, e.g., 'du wolltest'.
Words to know
- modal verb
- verb of necessity or possibility ('must', 'can', 'want') used with a 2nd verb in infinitive, which goes to the end
- imperfect tense
- German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Common mistakes
Modal verbs don't require a 2nd verb in the infinitive unless they are in the present tense.
Modal verbs require a 2nd verb in the infinitive in other tenses, including the imperfect tense, e.g., 'ich konnte schwimmen'. They do not require a preceding 'zu' before the infinitive. Other verbs do.
For parents, carers and teachers
- Listen to the song 'Die Jahresuhr' by Rolf Zuckowski for a catchy, authentic way of learning months of the year in German.