sollen — German conjugation
to should (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 | soll | I should |
| du | sollst | you should |
| er/sie/es | soll | he/she/it shoulds |
| wir | sollen | we should |
| ihr | sollt | you (pl.) should |
| sie/Sie | sollen | they should |
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 | sollte | I shoulded |
| du | solltest | you shoulded |
| er/sie/es | sollte | he/she/it shoulded |
| wir | sollten | we shoulded |
| ihr | solltet | you (pl.) shoulded |
| sie/Sie | sollten | they shoulded |
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 gesollt | I have shoulded |
| du | hast gesollt | you have shoulded |
| er/sie/es | hat gesollt | he/she/it has shoulded |
| wir | haben gesollt | we have shoulded |
| ihr | habt gesollt | you (pl.) have shoulded |
| sie/Sie | haben gesollt | they have shoulded |
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 gesollt | I had shoulded |
| du | hattest gesollt | you had shoulded |
| er/sie/es | hatte gesollt | he/she/it had shoulded |
| wir | hatten gesollt | we had shoulded |
| ihr | hattet gesollt | you (pl.) had shoulded |
| sie/Sie | hatten gesollt | they had shoulded |
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 sollen | I will should |
| du | wirst sollen | you will should |
| er/sie/es | wird sollen | he/she/it will should |
| wir | werden sollen | we will should |
| ihr | werdet sollen | you (pl.) will should |
| sie/Sie | werden sollen | they will should |
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 gesollt haben | I will have shoulded |
| du | wirst gesollt haben | you will have shoulded |
| er/sie/es | wird gesollt haben | he/she/it will have shoulded |
| wir | werden gesollt haben | we will have shoulded |
| ihr | werdet gesollt haben | you (pl.) will have shoulded |
| sie/Sie | werden gesollt haben | they will have shoulded |
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 | sollte |
| du | solltest |
| er/sie/es | sollte |
| wir | sollten |
| ihr | solltet |
| sie/Sie | sollten |
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 | solle |
| ihr | sollt |