Dutch modal verbs: kunnen, moeten, mogen, willen and zullen

The five Dutch modal verbs

A modal verb says whether someone can do something, has to, is allowed to, wants to, or will. Each one usually comes with a second verb.

• kunnen: can, to be able to. Ik kan zwemmen. It also says that something is possible: Dat kan.
• moeten: must, to have to. Ik moet om acht uur beginnen. One verb for both English forms.
• mogen: may, to be allowed to. Hier mag je niet parkeren. You are not allowed to park here.
• willen: to want. Ik wil een nieuwe fiets. It is not the future will: ik wil means I want.
• zullen: shall, will. A promise, an offer or the future: Ik zal je helpen.

None of them takes te before the infinitive: Ik moet werken, never Ik moet te werken. Hoeven (to need), the negative of moeten, does: Je hoeft niet te komen. It has its own section below.

The present tense

In the present, four of the five are irregular. They take no -t with hij (hij kan, hij mag, hij wil, hij zal). Kunnen and zullen change their vowel with ik and hij (ik kan, but jij kunt), and mogen in the whole singular (ik mag, jij mag, but wij mogen). Moeten is regular in the present, because its stem moet already ends in t; its past, moest, is not.

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With jij and u, three of them have two correct forms; the one with -t is the usual one in writing. When je or jij comes after the verb, the -t drops, as with every Dutch verb: Kun je morgen komen? With u it stays: Kunt u morgen komen? The rule for all verbs is on Dutch verb conjugation, and when to say je or u on Dutch pronouns.

The past tense and the perfect

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The simple past is the one you will read most: Ik moest gisteren werken. Hij kon niet komen. Zou, the past of zullen, does the work of English would; it has a section below.

The double infinitive: heb moeten werken

On its own, a modal takes its participle in the perfect: Dat heb ik nooit gewild. I never wanted that. With a second verb, Dutch uses the infinitive of the modal instead: Ik heb moeten werken, not Ik heb gemoeten werken. The clause ends in two infinitives, the modal first: Hij heeft niet kunnen komen. In a text, read heb moeten, heeft kunnen or hebben willen as a past: had to, could, wanted to.

The auxiliary stays hebben, even when the main verb takes zijn on its own: Ik ben gekomen, but Ik heb niet kunnen komen. Three verbs together are a B1 point; at A2 it is enough to recognize them, and the simple past says the same with two: Ik kon niet komen.

Word order with a second verb

The modal is the conjugated verb, so it stands second in a main clause and first in a yes-or-no question, and the second verb goes to the very end. In a sub-clause both go to the end, usually the modal first. This is rule 3 of Dutch word order.

• Morgen kan ik niet komen. Tomorrow I cannot come. (the modal second, the infinitive last)
• Kun je morgen komen? Can you come tomorrow? (a question: the modal first)
• Ik weet dat ze morgen wil komen. I know that she wants to come tomorrow. (a sub-clause: both verbs at the end)
• Ik moet morgen vroeg opstaan. I have to get up early tomorrow. (a separable verb stays whole at the end)

The other order, dat ze morgen komen wil, is correct too. With three verbs, hebben usually comes first: dat ik gisteren heb moeten werken.

Without a second verb

With a direction, Dutch leaves out gaan: Ik moet naar huis, I have to go home. With a thing, no verb is needed either: Ik wil een fiets. Mag ik de rekening? And het or dat can stand for the whole action. Two lines from the texts:

• ‘Ja, dat kan.’ Yes, that is fine. (Olena, asked whether she can work on Saturdays; Solliciteren)
• Nu kan ze terug naar de drogist. Now she can go back to the drugstore. (Geen Engels, alstublieft)

Polite requests and offers

A polite Dutch request is usually a question with a modal verb, and the more indirect the modal, the softer the request.

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Zou je mij kunnen helpen? and Ik zou graag een tafel willen reserveren have three verbs together: at A2 they are learned as fixed polite phrases, and building such clusters yourself comes at B1. Without graag, Ik wil koffie can sound blunt. In a shop you will hear Wat mag het zijn?, what would you like? (Geen Engels, alstublieft) More everyday phrases, from Mag ik bestellen? to Kunt u mij terugbellen?, are on basic Dutch words and phrases.

Where Dutch modal verbs differ from English

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Moeten, niet mogen and niet hoeven te

Must not is niet mogen; don’t have to is niet hoeven te. Moeten with niet is advice not to do something: Je moet niet zo hard werken. You should not work so hard. So Je moet niet komen and Je hoeft niet te komen say different things. In Belgium you will also hear Je moet niet komen for you don’t have to come; in the Netherlands it means you should not.

In a statement, hoeven needs a word that denies or limits, such as niet, geen, nooit, niemand, alleen, maar or pas. Without one, use moeten. And unlike the five modal verbs, hoeven takes te; in speech you will hear Je hoeft niet komen, but in writing keep the te. Ze hoefde alleen nog op ‘verzenden’ te klikken. All she still had to do was click ‘send’. (Trakteren)

Mogen, kunnen and may

Mogen is permission: Mag ik binnenkomen? English may for a possibility is kunnen or misschien: Het kan vanavond regenen. Kunnen also covers what you know how to do: ‘Ik kan niet schaken,’ zei Lena. “I can’t play chess,” Lena said. (Het pakje voor nummer 12) And mogen with a person means to like: Ik mag hem wel, I quite like him.

Willen is not will

Ik wil morgen komen means I want to come tomorrow. For English will, Dutch uses the present with a time word, gaan or zullen, as Dutch verb conjugation explains. Where English says want someone to, Dutch needs a dat-clause: De regering wilde dat zo'n ramp nooit meer kon gebeuren. The government wanted a disaster like that never to happen again. (De watersnood van 1953)

Zullen and zou

Zullen makes promises (Ik zal het morgen sturen), offers (Zal ik je helpen?) and suggestions (Zullen we beginnen?). With wel it is a guess: Hij zal wel moe zijn, he must be tired, I suppose. Zou, its past, is English would, with four everyday jobs:

• A wish or a soft request: Ik zou graag een tafel willen reserveren. I would like to book a table.
• Advice: Ik zou naar de huisarts gaan. I would go to the doctor (if I were you).
• A plan in the past: Hier zou een bus komen, maar ik zie niets. A bus was supposed to come here, but I don’t see anything. (Storing)
• What would happen: Als ik meer tijd had, zou ik meer lezen. De oude Dmytro zou ‘Ja, prima’ zeggen. The old Dmytro would say “Yes, fine”. (De borg)

Modal verbs from A1 to B1

The free texts on this site keep to rules for each level, and in them the modal verbs come in this order:

• A1: the present of kunnen, moeten, mogen and willen with an infinitive, and the past forms kon, wilde, moest and mocht. Mag ik ...?, Kunt u ...? and Wilt u ...? are in the A1 texts.
• A2: zullen for the future, offers and suggestions; zou for wishes, advice, polite requests and a plan in the past; niet hoeven te; the modal verbs in sub-clauses.
• B1: three verbs together (heeft moeten werken, zou kunnen helpen), and zou for what would happen (Als ik geld had, zou ik ...).

Typical mistakes

• Not Ik moet te werken but Ik moet werken: no te after a modal verb.
• Not Ik kan komen morgen but Ik kan morgen komen: the second verb goes to the end.
• Not dat ik kan morgen komen but dat ik morgen kan komen: in a sub-clause both verbs go to the end.
• Not hij kant or hij wilt but hij kan and hij wil. And not Kunt je? but Kun je?
• Not Ik heb gemoeten werken but Ik heb moeten werken: with a second verb the modal stays an infinitive.
• Not Je moet niet betalen when you mean that it is not necessary, but Je hoeft niet te betalen.

See it in a text

Sentences from the free texts on this site, word for word.

• ‘Mag ik niet meer naar binnen?’ “Am I not allowed in any more?” No second verb: with a direction, Dutch leaves out gaan. (Een uur te vroeg, A1)
• U lacht, en dat mag niet: op een pasfoto kijkt u neutraal, mond dicht. You are smiling, and that is not allowed: in a passport photo you look neutral, mouth closed. Dat mag niet is English must not. (De pasfoto, A2)
• ‘Die hoeft niet, want kammen is genoeg,’ zegt de man in de winkel. “You don’t need that one, because combing is enough,” says the man in the shop. Hoeven with niet and no second verb: that one is not needed. (Luizen, A2)
• Terug in het weiland vraagt Hofman nog eens of hij de wolf mag doodschieten. Back in the field, Hofman asks once more whether he may shoot the wolf. In the sub-clause, the modal and the separable verb stand together at the end. (De wolf is terug, B1)
• Hij heeft de drie Friese woorden nooit mogen zeggen. He was never allowed to say the three Frisian words. The double infinitive: heeft mogen zeggen. (De Elfstedentocht, B1)
• Daarom leende hij zijn boeken altijd bij de uitleenautomaat, zodat hij met niemand hoefde te praten. So he always borrowed his books at the self-service machine, so that he did not have to talk to anyone. Hoeven with niemand and te, at the end of a sub-clause. (Het briefje in het bibliotheekboek, B1)

Read next

Geen Engels, alstublieft is a free A2 story about Maria, who wants one whole conversation in Dutch before her speaking exam. The modal verbs come up often in it: Ik wil graag, Wat mag het zijn?, moeten ze wel Nederlands praten. Read it once for the story, then again and find each modal and its second verb. More stories at this level are on the page of free A2 texts.

For a whole book at A2, there is Dracula, the first volume of the Dutch Readers series: Bram Stoker’s novel retold in eight short chapters of easy Dutch, with a glossary after every chapter.