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GERMAN VERB

müssen

to have to, must

  • #5 most used
  • Modal verb
  • Past participle: gemusst

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. ich I have to
  2. du you have to
  3. er, sie, es he/she has to
  4. wir we have to
  5. ihr you all have to
  6. sie, Sie they have to

Simple past

Präteritum · the past of writing, and of sein, haben and the modals in speech

  1. ich I had to
  2. du you had to
  3. er, sie, es he/she had to
  4. wir we had to
  5. ihr you all had to
  6. sie, Sie they had to

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. ich I have had to
  2. du you have had to
  3. er, sie, es he/she has had to
  4. wir we have had to
  5. ihr you all have had to
  6. sie, Sie they have had to

Future

Futur I · “werden”; in speech the present with “morgen” does the job

  1. ich I will have to
  2. du you will have to
  3. er, sie, es he/she will have to
  4. wir we will have to
  5. ihr you all will have to
  6. sie, Sie they will have to

Conditional

Konjunktiv II · “would”: “würde”, and “wäre”, “hätte”, “könnte”

  1. ich I would have to
  2. du you would have to
  3. er, sie, es he/she would have to
  4. wir we would have to
  5. ihr you all would have to
  6. sie, Sie they would have to

How to use müssen

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Ich muss jetzt leider los.

    Unfortunately I have to go now.

  2. Simple past

    Wir mussten eine Stunde auf den Bus warten.

    We had to wait an hour for the bus.

  3. Perfect

    Das habe ich noch nie gemusst.

    I've never had to do that before.

  4. Future

    Du wirst früh aufstehen müssen.

    You'll have to get up early.

  5. Conditional

    Eigentlich müsste ich jetzt arbeiten.

    Actually I should be working now.

Good to know

  • Ich muss nicht means I don't have to, not I must not; that is ich darf nicht.
  • Ich muss los, I have to go, is the usual way to leave.

Where you hear müssen

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

German · Beginner Level 1

  • Sie müssen den Fahrschein entwerten. You have to stamp the ticket.
  • Ich musste sechzig Euro zahlen. I had to pay sixty euros.
  • Am Montag muss ich arbeiten. On Monday I have to work.

German · Beginner Level 3

  • Sie müssen den Fahrschein entwerten. You have to stamp the ticket.
  • Ich musste sechzig Euro zahlen. I had to pay sixty euros.
  • Am Montag muss ich arbeiten. On Monday I have to work.
19
The Workshop

Beginner Level 3 · Man musste. Es gab nichts zu kaufen.

Needs a subscription 22
Oma on the Phone

Advanced Level 1 · Oma, das musst du nicht. Danke.

Needs a subscription 18
Low German

Fluency Level 2 · Wat mutt, dat mutt.

Needs a subscription 16
Rolf and the Penalty

Fluency Level 3 · Muss das sein, Rolf?

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: modal verb.