müssen — German conjugation
to must (modal verb)
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | muss | I must |
| du | musst | you must |
| er/sie/es | muss | he/she/it musts |
| wir | müssen | we must |
| ihr | müsst | you (pl.) must |
| sie/Sie | müssen | they must |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | musste | I musted |
| du | musstest | you musted |
| er/sie/es | musste | he/she/it musted |
| wir | mussten | we musted |
| ihr | musstet | you (pl.) musted |
| sie/Sie | mussten | they musted |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe gemusst | I have musted |
| du | hast gemusst | you have musted |
| er/sie/es | hat gemusst | he/she/it has musted |
| wir | haben gemusst | we have musted |
| ihr | habt gemusst | you (pl.) have musted |
| sie/Sie | haben gemusst | they have musted |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte gemusst | I had musted |
| du | hattest gemusst | you had musted |
| er/sie/es | hatte gemusst | he/she/it had musted |
| wir | hatten gemusst | we had musted |
| ihr | hattet gemusst | you (pl.) had musted |
| sie/Sie | hatten gemusst | they had musted |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde müssen | I will must |
| du | wirst müssen | you will must |
| er/sie/es | wird müssen | he/she/it will must |
| wir | werden müssen | we will must |
| ihr | werdet müssen | you (pl.) will must |
| sie/Sie | werden müssen | they will must |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde gemusst haben | I will have musted |
| du | wirst gemusst haben | you will have musted |
| er/sie/es | wird gemusst haben | he/she/it will have musted |
| wir | werden gemusst haben | we will have musted |
| ihr | werdet gemusst haben | you (pl.) will have musted |
| sie/Sie | werden gemusst haben | they will have musted |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | müsste |
| du | müsstest |
| er/sie/es | müsste |
| wir | müssten |
| ihr | müsstet |
| sie/Sie | müssten |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | müsse |
| ihr | müsst |