GrammarC1· Politik & Debatte

Subjektive Modalverben

Modal verbs for claims and assumptions

Kartoffel · your teacher

Hi! Let's look at this one together — step by step, no rush.

From what you know

Er sagt, er habe nichts gewusst.Er will nichts gewusst haben.

6 parts · about 6 min

1What & when

In one line

Others say so: soll. They claim it themselves: will. How sure you are: muss, dürfte, könnte.

Before

Der Bürgermeister hat von den Mehrkosten gewusst.

Watch the sentence change …

Others say so: soll goes in . The moves to the end as gewusst haben.

„Der Bürgermeister soll von den Mehrkosten gewusst haben.“ — The mayor is said to have known about the extra costs.

Kartoffel

First, what is it?

You know the in their objective meaning: what someone must, should, wants to or can do. At C1 they take on a second, subjective meaning. The modal no longer talks about the 's duty or wish. It comments on the whole statement: whose claim it is, and how sure the speaker is that it's true.

Kartoffel

And when do you need it? More often than you'd think:

Politik & DebatteYou need them whenever something isn't confirmed, or you draw your own conclusion. A news report on a scandal: Die Abgeordnete soll Geld angenommen haben (others say so). A politician's denial: Sie will nichts gewusst haben (she says so, and you doubt it). Your own reading of the facts on a panel: Er muss die Mail gelesen haben. Newspapers, radio briefings and political debates are full of them.

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