Learning ‘möchten’ 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
- ‘möchten’ (‘to would like’) is a commonly used infinitive verb in German.
- there are more ‘möchten’ conjugation options than what we have in English.
- you need to learn ‘möchten’ conjugations for multiple tenses and moods.
How is ‘Möchten’ Used in German?
Knowing how to correctly use ‘möchten’ in its many diverse forms allows you to speak masterfully in German in a wide variety of contexts.
‘Möchten’ allows you to talk about yourself and others ‘wanting to’ (I would like to ask you a question/She would like to leave earlier/ etc.) in all manner of situations past, present, future, and hypothetical.
You’ll use ‘möchten’ in order to …
- ✅ Talk about wanting something in the particular moment (vs. general likes [mögen])
- ✅ Communicate requests and suggestions very politely.
- ✅ Say that you (or someone else) would like something (subjunctive mood).
What Are The 6 Conjugations of ‘Möchten’?
The 6 conjugations of ‘möchten’ in the present tense line up with our 6 subject pronouns to give us ‘ich möchte’, ‘du möchtest’, ‘er / sie / es möchte’, ‘wir möchten’, ‘ihr möchtet’, and ‘sie möchten.’
There are, of course, even more forms of ‘möchten’ in other tenses (and moods).
But it’s best to first focus strictly on the present tense conjugations of ‘möchten’, so let’s look at it side-by-side with the English ‘would like to’:
‘Möchten’ (in English)
| I would like |
| you would like |
| he/she/it would like |
| we would like |
| they would like |
‘Möchten’ in German is ‘would like to’ in English. Normally, in the present tense, we have two possible conjugations for verbs (i.e. sing and sings), but with most “modal” verbs, we only have one–in this case, would like to.
Those same conjugations in German look like this:
‘Möchten’ (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 ‘möchten’ (would like to) occurring with equivalent pronouns?
- Which language includes more changes compared to the other?
‘Möchten’ in the Present Tense
The present tense conjugations of ‘möchten’ are ich möchte, du möchtest, er / sie / es möchte, wir möchten, ihr möchtet, and sie möchten.
Put into a typical conjugation table, these options are presented like this:
Present Tense Conjugation Chart:
| ich möchte | wir möchten |
| du möchtest | ihr möchtet |
| er/sie/es möchte | sie möchten |
You truly haven’t even begun to learn ‘möchten’ until you know ALL the nominative case pronouns and which form of ‘möchten’ each of them takes.
To talk about the conjugations of ‘möchten’ 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 ‘möchten’ stays the same:
German Subject Pronoun & ‘möchten’ Conjugations Chart:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | Ich möchte | wir möchten |
| 2nd (informal) | du möchtest | ihr möchtet |
| (formal) | Sie möchten | Sie möchten |
| 3rd | er/sie/es möchte | sie möchten |
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 ‘Möchten’
Knowing how to use ‘möchten’ 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 möchte eine Pizza essen. (I would like to eat a pizza.)
Ich möchte das Zimmer streichen. (I would like to paint the room.)
Wir möchten eine Pizza essen. (We would like to eat a pizza.)
Wir möchten das Zimmer streichen. (We would like to paint the room.)
2nd Person (Informal), Singular & Plural
Du möchtest eine Pizza essen. (You would like to eat a pizza.)
Du möchtest das Zimmer streichen. (You would like to paint the room.)
Ihr möchtet eine Pizza essen. (You would like to eat a pizza.)
Ihr möchtet das Zimmer streichen. (You would like to paint the room.)
2nd Person (Formal), Singular & Plural
Sie möchten eine Pizza essen. (You would like to eat a pizza.)
Sie möchten das Zimmer streichen. (You would like to paint the room.)
Sie möchten eine Pizza essen. (You would like to eat a pizza.)
Sie möchten das Zimmer streichen. (You would like to paint the room.)
3rd Person, Singular & Plural
Der Mann möchte eine Pizza essen. (The man would like to eat a pizza.)
Der Mann möchte das Zimmer streichen. (The man would like to paint the room.)
Die Männer möchten Pizza essen. (The men would like to eat pizza.)
Die Männer möchten das Zimmer streichen. (The men would like to paint the room.)
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 ‘möchten’.
- 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 -er & umlaut plural at play in ‘Mann’ (man) -> ‘Männer’ (men). Learn more about German noun plurals here.
- Absolutely vital is to notice how ‘möchten’ (as one of the so-called ‘modal verbs’) must pair with a main verb (‘essen’ [to eat] and ‘streichen’ [to paint] 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 ‘möchten’ 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 (‘essen’ / ‘streichen’) 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 ‘Möchten’ Conjugations:
‘Möchten’ makes it possible to relay information about what you (or someone else) would or wouldn’t like in all manner of situations past, present, future, and hypothetical.
‘Möchten’ 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 ‘möchten’ in order to …
- ✅ Talk about ‘would liking’ / not ‘would liking’ [NOUN] in the present moment (I would like / wouldn’t chocolate [implication: right now!]).
- ✅ Communicate in-the-moment ‘would likes’ vs. general likes (‘mögen’).
- ✅ Convey a weaker sense of probability vs. ‘mögen’
- ✅ Speak hypothetically (e.g. I should/would have liked to do XY, if only …)
Building Blocks You Need For ‘Möchten’
‘Möchten’ conjugations empower you to express yourself in a LOT of different ways. You need to correctly wield ‘möchten’ in a variety of contexts in order to speak German capably, comfortably, and confidently.
To correctly use ‘möchten’ 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 ‘möchten’ for all persons.
- Learn the ‘möchten’ conjugations for the conditional/ subjunctive moods.
- Know how to use the ‘double infinitive’ formulation with ‘möchten’.
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 ‘möchten’ (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 ‘möchten’– 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 ‘möchten’ 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 ‘möchten’. 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 ‘möchten’ 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 ‘möchten’ conjugations.
Learning all of this is a big task for almost every German learner.
I’ll teach you step-by-step.
‘Möchten’ Conjugations in ALL Tenses & Moods
‘Möchten’ is used in 6 tenses (of the indicative mood). We use ‘möchten’ to talk about ‘having had liked to’ in the past, present, and future (e.g. I would have liked to, I would like to,).
For those of you who are ready for it, here are the full conjugation tables for ‘möchten’:
Indicative (Indikativ)
The indicative mood is how we talk most of the time: about real facts (I would like to make a toast to the happy couple. She would like to be able to sing in the choir. They would like to volunteer more of their time to worthy causes)
The indicative mood subcategories into SIX tenses in both English and German. Most of these tenses are used very similarly.
Although other tenses / moods technically exist, really, all you need to know for ‘möchten’ is the Indicative Present which is identical to the Subjunctive II of ‘mögen’.
Present (Präsens)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’- Present Tense (Präsens) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich möcht(e)⁵ | wir möchten |
| 2nd | du möchtest | ihr möchtet |
| 3rd | er möchte | sie möchten |
Simple Past (Präteritum)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’- Simple Past (Präteritum) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich möchtete | wir möchteten |
| 2nd | du möchtetest | ihr möchtetet |
| 3rd | er möchtete | sie möchteten |
Present Perfect (Perfekt)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’ – Present Perfect (Perfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich habe gemöchtet | wir haben gemöchtet |
| 2nd | du hast gemöchtet | ihr habt gemöchtet |
| 3rd | er hat gemöchtet | sie haben gemöchtet |
Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’ – Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich hatte gemöchtet | wir hatten gemöchtet |
| 2nd | du hattest gemöchtet | ihr hattet gemöchtet |
| 3rd | er hatte gemöchtet | sie hatten gemöchtet |
Simple Future (Futur I)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’ – Simple Future (Futur I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde möchten | wir werden möchten |
| 2nd | du wirst möchten | ihr werdet möchten |
| 3rd | er wird möchten | sie werden möchten |
Future Perfect (Futur II)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’ – Future Perfect (Futur II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde gemöchtet haben | wir werden gemöchtet haben |
| 2nd | du wirst gemöchtet haben | ihr werdet gemöchtet haben |
| 3rd | er wird gemöchtet haben | sie werden gemöchtet 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.
| ‘MÖCHTEN’- 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)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’- Present Subjunctive (Konjunktiv I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich möchte | wir möchten |
| 2nd | du möchtest | ihr möchtet |
| 3rd | er möchte | sie möchten |
Past Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’- Past Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich möchtete | wir möchteten |
| 2nd | du möchtetest | ihr möchtetet |
| 3rd | er möchtete | sie möchteten |
Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Perfekt)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’ – Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Perfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich habe gemöchtet | wir haben gemöchtet |
| 2nd | du habest gemöchtet | ihr habet gemöchtet |
| 3rd | er habe gemöchtet | sie haben gemöchtet |
Past Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Plusquamperfekt)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’ – Past Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Plusquamperfekt) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich hätte gemöchtet | wir hätten gemöchtet |
| 2nd | du hättest gemöchtet | ihr hättet gemöchtet |
| 3rd | er hätte gemöchtet | sie hätten gemöchtet |
Future Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur I)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’ – Future Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur I) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde möchten | wir werden möchten |
| 2nd | du werdest möchten | ihr werdet möchten |
| 3rd | er werde möchten | sie werden möchten |
Future Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur II)
| ‘MÖCHTEN’ – Future Perfect Subjunctive (Konjunktiv Futur II) Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Singular | Plural |
| 1st | ich werde gemöchtet haben | wir werden gemöchtet haben |
| 2nd | du werdest gemöchtet haben | ihr werdet gemöchtet haben |
| 3rd | er werde gemöchtet haben | sie werden gemöchtet haben |
What are the 3 forms of ‘möchten’?
