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„Dürfen“ is a modal verb which means "allowed to."
On this page I'll explain how „dürfen“ is used, how to conjugate it, and things to watch out for, as well as provide some examples to help you really understand this important verb that you'll use very often when speaking German.
Conjugating „dürfen“
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Using „dürfen“
As permission:
- „Wir dürfen eine Stunde Computer spielen.“
(Papa lets us.) - „Er darf meinen Computer benutzen.“
(I allow him to.)
As prohibition:
- „Wir dürfen heute nicht Computer spielen.“
(Papa forbids it.) - „Er darf meinen Computer nicht benutzen.“
(I forbid him from doing it.)
As a guess (with the Subjunctive 2)
High probability that you're right.
- „Der Schal dürfte Maria gehören.“
(As an answer to: „Wem gehört dieser Schal?“ ⇒ I think so.) - „Das Haus dürfte 30m hoch sein.“
(As an answer to: „Wie hoch ist dieses Haus?“ ⇒ I think so.)
To politely ask for permission
- „Darf ich Sie etwas fragen?“
(polite) - „Dürfte ich Sie etwas fragen?“
(very polite)
Related Topics:
You can find more Modal Verbs here:
You can find an overview of all topics under German Grammar.
Related Topics:
Entire lesson in German only: Modalverben „dürfen“
You can find more lessons on Verbs here:
- Was sind Verben? (What are Verbs?)
- Starke Verben (Strong Verbs)
- „sein“ und „haben“ ("sein" and "haben")
- Reflexive Verben (Reflexive Verbs)
- Trennbare & Untrennbare Verben (Separable & Inseparable Verbs)
- Modalverben (Modal Verbs)
- Partizip 1 (Present Participle)
- Partizip 2 (Past Participle)
- Das Verb „werden” (Verb "werden")
- Das Verb „lassen” (Verb "lassen")
- Imperativ (Imperative)
- Konjunktiv 1 (Subjunctive 1)
- Konjunktiv 2 (Subjunctive 2)
- Das Passiv (Passive Voice)
- Vorgangspassiv (Process Passive)
- Das Passiv in allen zeitformen (Process Passive in all tenses)
- Verben ohne Passiv (Verbs without Passive voice)
- Zustandpassiv (Status Passive)
- Das unpersönliche Passiv (Impersonal Passive)
- Verben mit Ergänzungen (Verbs with Complements)
- Verben mit Nominativ (Verbs with Nominative)
- Verben mit Akkusativ (Verbs with Accusative)
- Verben mit doppeltem Akkusativ (Verbs with double Accusative)
- Verben mit Dativ (Verbs with Dative)
- Verben mit Akkusativ & Dativ (Verbs with Accusative & Dative)
- Verben mit Genitiv (Verbs with Genitive)
- Verben mit Präpositionen (Verbs with Prepositions)
Lists on the topic of German verbs:
- Die 30 wichtigsten Verben mit Vokalwechsel (The 30 most important verbs with vowel change)
- Untrennbare Präfixe (Inseparable Prefixes)
- Wechselpräfixe (Two-case Prefixes)
- Unregelmäßige Partizip 2 Formen (Irregular Participle 2 forms)
- Nomen-Verb-Verbindungen (Noun-Verb compounds)
You can find an overview of all topics under German Grammar.
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