Learning ‘dürfen’ is tricky because German verbs have more conjugation options compared to English verbs –so there’s more that our brains have to remember!
Key Takeaways
- ‘dürfen’ (‘may’) is a commonly used infinitive verb in German.
- there are more ‘dürfen’ conjugation options than what we have in English.
- you need to learn ‘dürfen’ conjugations for multiple tenses and moods.
How is ‘Dürfen’ Used in German?
Knowing how to correctly use ‘dürfen’ in its many diverse forms allows you to speak masterfully in German in a wide variety of contexts.
‘Dürfen’ allows you to talk about yourself and others ‘having permission to’ (You may come in. They have been permitted to adopt. etc.) in all manner of situations past, present, future, and hypothetical.
You’ll use ‘dürfen’ in order to …
- ✅ Talk about permission (or the lack thereof) vs. physical ability (können).
- ✅ Communicate possibility, opportunity, and politeness.
- ✅ Say that you (or someone else) may, is / has been / will be allowed to, etc.
What Are The 6 Conjugations of ‘Dürfen’?
The 6 conjugations of ‘dürfen’ in the present tense line up with our 6 subject pronouns to give us ‘ich darf’, ‘du darfst’, ‘er / sie / es darf’, ‘wir dürfen’, ‘ihr dürft’, and ‘sie dürfen.’
There are, of course, even more forms of ‘dürfen’ in other tenses (and moods).
But it’s best to first focus strictly on the present tense conjugations of ‘dürfen’, so let’s look at it side-by-side with the English ‘may’:
‘Dürfen’ (in English)
| I may |
| you may |
| he/she/it may |
| we may |
| they may |
‘Dürfen’ in German is ‘may’ in English. Normally in the present tense, we have two possible conjugations for verbs, (i.e. sing and sings), but for most “modal” verbs, we only have one–in this case, ‘may’..
Those same conjugations in German look like this:
‘Dürfen’ (Present Tense) English vs German
Comparing German & English
It’s important to notice the patterns of similarities and differences at this point.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Where does German ‘recycle’ the same conjugations?
- Are the German & English changes to ‘dürfen’ (may) occurring with equivalent pronouns?
- Which language includes more changes compared to the other?
‘Dürfen’ in the Present Tense
The present tense conjugations of ‘dürfen’ are ich darf, du darfst, er / sie / es darf, wir dürfen, ihr dürft, and sie dürfen.
Put into a typical conjugation table, these options are presented like this:
Present Tense Conjugation Chart:
| ich darf | wir dürfen |
| du darfst | ihr dürft |
| er/sie/es darf | sie dürfen |
You truly haven’t even begun to learn ‘dürfen’ until you know ALL the nominative case pronouns and which form of ‘dürfen’ each of them takes.
To talk about the conjugations of ‘dürfen’ used by the various pronouns, we have to work backward by starting with the pronouns.
And in order to understand nominative case (i.e. subject) pronouns, we need to talk about the grammar concept of ‘persons’.
What are ‘persons’?
The ‘persons’ (I, you, they, etc.) are split into two categories that interact with each other:
There are 3 subcategories of ‘persons’ (1st Person, 2nd Person, and 3rd Person) and each of these has a ‘singular’ and a ‘plural’ variant.
When we intersect this information on Y and X axes, we get these ultra-familiar English subject pronouns:
English Subject Pronouns Chart
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | I | we |
| 2nd | you | you |
| 3rd | he/she/it | they |
Now, here is the German version of the same table of subject pronouns:
German Subject Pronouns Chart
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | ich | wir |
| 2nd | du | ihr |
| 3rd | er/sie/es | sie |
German & English Pronouns Side-by-Side
Where do English and German line up and where are there differences?
English and German have 1-to-1 equivalents for all pronouns … except that German has extra pronouns for ‘you’ (highlighted).
FULL German Subject Pronouns Chart
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | ich | wir |
| 2nd (informal) | du | ihr |
| (formal) | Sie | Sie |
| 3rd | er/sie/es | sie |
Understanding the ‘ihr’ plural of ‘du’ is straightforward enough: Americans might relate it to the concept of y’all. We’re simply talking to multiple ‘you’s at the same time.
But what is the deal with the singular and plural ‘Sie’?
Formal vs. Informal ‘You’
If you took high school Spanish, you’ve already been exposed to the idea of ‘you’ having an informal version and a formal version (e.g. ‘tu’ [informal] and ‘Usted’ [formal]).
It’s the exact same idea in German.
We need to use the formal ‘you’ when we address …
- someone we don’t intimately know
- someone to whom we want to show additional respect
- someone in a relative position of authority
Of course, these separate categories have some obvious potential overlaps in that many times we perceive others as authority figures whom we also genuinely respect and with whom we wouldn’t go out to a pub for a beer because we don’t know them intimately enough.
When to Use the Formal ‘Sie’
As you can see in the table, if you’re using the formal address ‘Sie’, it doesn’t matter if you’re talking to one person or multiple –the pronoun AND its conjugation of ‘dürfen’ stays the same:
German Subject Pronoun & ‘Dürfen’ Conjugations Chart:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | ich darf | wir dürfen |
| 2nd (informal) | du darfst | ihr dürft |
| (formal) | Sie dürfen | Sie dürfen |
| 3rd | er/sie/es darf | sie dürfen |
In German, you generally need to use this formal version of ‘you’ if you’re talking with…
- professionals (e.g. clerks, police officers, doctors, plumbers, etc.)
- leaders (e.g. priests, politicians, choir directors, bosses, etc.)
- elders (e.g. anyone clearly at least a generation older than you are)
Examples of ‘Dürfen’
Knowing how to use ‘dürfen’ in the present tense for all the 1st, 2nd (formal and informal) and 3rd persons, singular and plural, is exactly what you should know for now.
1st Person, Singular & Plural
Ich darf das Konzert sehen. (I am allowed to see the concert.)
Ich darf nach Hause gehen. (I am allowed to go home.)
Wir dürfen das Konzert sehen. (We are allowed to see the concert.)
Wir dürfen nach Hause gehen. (We are allowed to go home.)
2nd Person (Informal), Singular & Plural
Du darfst das Konzert sehen. (You are allowed to see the concert.)
Du darfst nach Hause gehen. (You are allowed to go home.)
Ihr dürft das Konzert sehen. (You are allowed to see the concert.)
Ihr dürft nach Hause gehen. (You are allowed to go home.)
2nd Person (Formal), Singular & Plural
Sie dürfen das Konzert sehen. (You are allowed to see the concert.)
Sie dürfen nach Hause gehen. (You are allowed to go home.)
Sie dürfen das Konzert sehen. (You are allowed to see the concert.)
Sie dürfen nach Hause gehen. (You are allowed to go home.)
3rd Person, Singular & Plural
Der Freund darf das Konzert sehen. (The friend is allowed to see the concert.)
Der Freund darf nach Hause gehen. (The friend is allowed to go home.)
Die Freunde dürfen das Konzert sehen. (The friends are allowed to see the concert.)
Die Freunde dürfen nach Hause gehen. (The friends are allowed to go home.)
Learning all of this is a big task for almost every German learner.
I’ll teach you step-by-step.
Comparing German & English
There are several interesting points to make on the above examples so that you can further your general knowledge of German beyond specifics of ‘dürfen’.
- Almost every English noun pluralizes simply with ‘s’ (e.g. friend[s]), but German has SEVEN different options that we have to know how to choose between! You may have noticed specifically the -e plural at play in ‘Freund’ (friend) -> ‘Freunde’ (friends). Learn more about German noun plurals here.
- Absolutely vital is to notice how ‘dürfen’ (as one of the so-called ‘modal verbs’) must pair with a main verb (‘sehen’ [to see] and ‘gehen’ above). Modal verbs aren’t used on their own unless the main verb is clearly understood thanks to context. See an overview of modal verbs here.
- Notice that ‘dürfen’ as the modal verb is conjugated and in the 2nd position of the sentence –right after the subject (if we’re using Standard Word Order). The main verb (‘sehen’ / ‘gehen’’) is at the very end of the sentence and in its infinitive form. Learn more about German word order here.
Skills You’ll Need to Use ‘Dürfen’ Conjugations:
‘Dürfen’ makes it possible to relay information about what you (or someone else) should or shouldn’t do in all manner of situations past, present, future, and hypothetical.
‘Dürfen’ is such a common, everyday verb that you can’t masterfully speak German if you don’t understand how to use its various conjugations.
You’ll use ‘dürfen’ in order to …
- ✅ Talk about permission (I am allowed to go, I’m not allowed to smoke, etc.)
- ✅ Communicate being allowed to do XY in the past, present, and future (I am allowed / was allowed / will be allowed to …)
- ✅ Speak hypothetically (e.g. I should have been allowed to XY, if only …)
Building Blocks You Need For ‘Dürfen’
‘Dürfen’ conjugations empower you to express yourself in a LOT of different ways. You need to correctly wield ‘dürfen’ in a variety of contexts in order to speak German capably, comfortably, and confidently.
To correctly use ‘dürfen’ in various tenses and moods, to give commands or offer suggestions, or to speak hypothetically, you need to build these foundational skills:
- Know the subject [i.e. nominative] pronouns for all singular & plural persons.
- Learn the present and simple past tense conjugations of ‘dürfen’ for all persons.
- Learn the ‘dürfen’ conjugations for the conditional/ subjunctive moods.
- Know how to use the ‘double infinitive’ formulation with ‘dürfen’.
Terminology Explained
subject pronouns are the words ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’, ‘we’ and ‘they’ in English. German has these same options BUT also three more! These pronouns are categorized as ‘persons’ that are either singular (e.g. ‘I’) or plural (e.g. ‘we’).
conjugations are slight changes to a verb that line up with different ‘persons’. The same base verb ‘should’ is used in English for all persons, but typically there are two conjugation options (e.g. sing vs. sings). German, however, typically uses four different conjugations, even for modal verbs such as ‘dürfen’ (see above tables).
tense & mood are simply variants of a verb such as ‘I should’ (present / future tense –it could still happen) vs. ‘I should have’ (past tense –it definitely didn’t happen and still won’t). German and English generally have all the same verb tenses and moods (sometimes German has more) and they function similarly.
double infinitives generally involve a modal verb, a main verb, and a helping / auxiliary verb (‘sein’, ‘haben’, or ‘werden’) to talk about –in the instance of ‘dürfen’– feeling/ being obligated to do XY [main verb] in the future (which you may or may not do) or having felt / been obligated to do XY [main verb] in the past (which you didn’t do, although you ‘should have’). Learn more here.
“HELP! This Feels Overwhelming!”
This can understandably feel like a LOT, but the good news is that you DON’T have to fully master all the applications of ‘dürfen’ right now as a beginner learner –which also means you don’t have to have all the relevant lingo totally down yet, either.
The ideal place to start is by learning just the German subject pronouns and the present tense conjugations of ‘dürfen’. We covered this in depth above, but here is the table with both pieces of information, again, here:
Repetitious, simple sentences (like the examples I gave you above in an earlier section) will help you drill these present tense ‘dürfen’ conjugations into your memory.
And since all the subject pronouns are exactly the same no matter what German verb conjugations we’re learning, we’ll get lots of mileage out of learning our ‘ich’ and ‘du’, etc.
If you’re beyond a beginner level already, you’ll see those ‘ich’s and ‘du’s repeated again and again in the following tables of ALL the ‘dürfen’ conjugations.
Learning all of this is a big task for almost every German learner.
I’ll teach you step-by-step.
‘Dürfen’ Conjugations in ALL Tenses & Moods
‘Dürfen’ is used in 6 tenses (of the indicative mood), and in an additional mood (the subjunctive). We use ‘dürfen’ to talk about ‘being permitted to’ in the past, present, and future (e.g. I was permitted to , I am permitted to, I will be.permitted to ‘.Dürfen’ is also used to say ‘I wouldbe permitted to’ (subjunctive).
For those of you who are ready for it, here are the full conjugation tables for ‘dürfen’:
Indicative (Indikativ)
The indicative mood is how we talk most of the time: about real facts (You may leave at any time. It may take a long time. They may join us for dinner.)
The indicative mood subcategories into SIX tenses in both English and German. Most of these tenses are used very similarly.
With modal verbs explicitly, it’s essential to learn the present tense first, and then the simple past and subjunctive II mood.
The future indicative and the subjunctive pluperfect mood (a.k.a subjunctive past perfect) are also used, but most commonly with a ‘double infinitive.’
The other tenses / moods are rarely –if ever– used for ‘dürfen’ (and sometimes don’t even apply, such as the imperative mood.)
Present (Präsens)
| ‘DÜRFEN’- Present Tense (Präsens) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich darf | wir dürfen |
| 2nd | du darfst | ihr dürft |
| 3rd | er darf | sie dürfen |
Simple Past (Präteritum)
| ‘DÜRFEN’- Simple Past (Präteritum) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich durfte | wir durften |
| 2nd | du durftest | ihr durftet |
| 3rd | er durfte | sie durften |
Present Perfect (Perfekt)
| ‘DÜRFEN’ – Present Perfect (Perfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich habe gedurft | wir haben gedurft |
| 2nd | du hast gedurft | ihr habt gedurft |
| 3rd | er hat gedurft | sie haben gedurft |
Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| ‘DÜRFEN’ – Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich hatte gedurft | wir hatten gedurft |
| 2nd | du hattest gedurft | ihr hattet gedurft |
| 3rd | er hatte gedurft | sie hatten gedurft |
Simple Future (Futur I)
| ‘DÜRFEN’ – Simple Future (Futur I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde dürfen | wir werden dürfen |
| 2nd | du wirst dürfen | ihr werdet dürfen |
| 3rd | er wird dürfen | sie werden dürfen |
Future Perfect (Futur II)
| ‘DÜRFEN’ – Future Perfect (Futur II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde gedurft haben | wir werden gedurft haben |
| 2nd | du wirst gedurft haben | ihr werdet gedurft haben |
| 3rd | er wird gedurft haben | sie werden gedurft haben |
Important Notes on German Tenses
Although German and English HAVE all the same tenses, they aren’t necessarily all used the same way.
In German …
- The Present Tense covers three different English options: for example, I eat, I do eat, I am eating would ALL simply be ‘Ich esse’ in German.
- The Present Perfect Tense (which would technically translate to, e.g. I have eaten) actually correlates with English’s simple past (i.e. I ate) in terms of usage.
- The Simple Future tense is frequently avoided in favor of the Present tense and a time adverbial.
Imperative (Imperativ)
The imperative mood is used in both English and German for giving commands. Note that a ‘du’ or ‘ihr’ subject is generally omitted, but that a ‘wir’ and ‘Sie’ must be present.
| ‘DÜRFEN’- Imperative (Imperativ) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | – wir! | |
| 2nd Informal | – [du]! | – [ihr]! |
| 2nd Formal | – Sie! | – Sie! |
| 3rd | ||
Subjunctive (Konjunktiv)
The subjunctive mood is used in both English and German (but much more frequently in German!) to communicate hypothetical (i.e. not factual [indicative]) situations.
The subjunctive can be used to communicate a present or future likelihood (but not certainty) OR a complete impossibility in the past, present, or future.
The subjunctive is also used for expressing polite requests vs. the commands of the imperative mood.
Present Subjunctive (Konjunktiv I)
| ‘DÜRFEN’- Present Subjunctive (Konjunktiv I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich dürfe | wir dürfen |
| 2nd | du dürfest | ihr dürfet |
| 3rd | er dürfe | sie dürfen |
Past Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II)
| ‘DÜRFEN’- Past Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich dürfte | wir dürften |
| 2nd | du dürftest | ihr dürftet |
| 3rd | er dürfte | sie dürften |
Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Perfekt)
| ‘DÜRFEN’ – Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Perfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich habe gedurft | wir haben gedurft |
| 2nd | du habest gedurft | ihr habet gedurft |
| 3rd | er habe gedurft | sie haben gedurft |
Past Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Plusquamperfekt)
| ‘DÜRFEN’ – Past Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Plusquamperfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich hätte gedurft | wir hätten gedurft |
| 2nd | du hättest gedurft | ihr hättet gedurft |
| 3rd | er hätte gedurft | sie hätten gedurft |
Future Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur I)
| ‘DÜRFEN’ – Future Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde dürfen | wir werden dürfen |
| 2nd | du werdest dürfen | ihr werdet dürfen |
| 3rd | er werde dürfen | sie werden dürfen |
Future Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur II)
| ‘DÜRFEN’ – Future Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde gedurft haben | wir werden gedurft haben |
| 2nd | du werdest gedurft haben | ihr werdet gedurft haben |
| 3rd | er werde gedurft haben | sie werden gedurft haben |
What are the 3 forms of ‘dürfen’?
