Modal Verbs in Perfect Tense

Modal verbs act as auxiliary verbs and don't make sense without the main verb in a sentence. They require conjugation like typical verbs.

Modals alter the meaning of a sentence but not the action being described.

Modal Verbs in Perfect Tense as Full Verbs: Habe gewollt

Rule 1: When we want to use the perfect tense with a modal verb as a full verb, we build this with the auxiliary haben and the past participle with ge. It's mostly used when talking about abilities with können - gekonnt, obligations with müssen - gemusst, or preference with mögen - gemocht.

Note: We generally prefer to use the simple past of the modal verb.

Modal Verbs in Perfect Tense as Auxiliary Verbs: Habe arbeiten müssen

Rule 2: Modal verbs are often used with another verb. In order to build the perfect tense, we use a specific structure called the double infinitive. We don't use the past participle form:

Note: Always put the two infinitives at the end in this order.

Modal Verbs With Progress Passive: Soll gemacht werden

Rule 3: We use the passive voice when we want to put more emphasis on the action. We generally use the structure:

When those actions involve a modal verb, we have to conjugate the modal verb. At the end of the sentence, we use the past participle of the full verb followed by the infinitive form "werden."

Modal Verbs With State Passive: Müsste gemacht sein

Rule 4: The statal passive (Zustandspassiv) describes the state, result, or situation after an action has been completed. We need a form of sein and the past participle of the main verb to form it.

The statal passive can also be formed with modal verbs. We then follow the structure:

Note: We mostly use "sollen" or "müssen" to say that some desired state should/must be reached when something happens.