Modal verbs · the sentence bracket
A German clause is a frame. The conjugated modal snaps into position 2 and the main verb flies to the very end as a bare infinitive. Pick a modal, change the person and tense, and watch the bracket rebuild.
Person
Tense
present — the modal sits in position 2
Ich muss heute arbeiten.
I must work today.
Präsens
Watch the singular: ich = er with no ending, and the stem vowel differs from the plural. Tap any form to hear it.
The whole trick
Modal in position 2
The modal is the only conjugated verb — it takes the position-2 slot right after the subject.
Ich muss …
Infinitive at the end
The main verb never conjugates. It waits, bare, at the very end of the clause.
… heute arbeiten.
ich = er, no ending
In the present the ich- and er-forms are identical and endingless; the singular vowel differs from the plural.
ich kann · er kann
Make it stick
Twelve sentences to complete. Pick the right form — the conjugated modal, the end-of-clause infinitive, or the Perfekt double infinitive — and get a per-modal score at the end.
… du mir helfen?
Can you help me?