How to conjugate the German verb ‘dürfen’
In German, you can use the verb ‘dürfen’ to give or deny permission to do something. Its equivalent in English is therefore “may” or “allowed to”. We’ll give you an overview of the conjugation and show you a few other expressions for which you can use the German modal verb ‘dürfen’.
The verb ‘dürfen’ is among German’s irregular verbs with the forms “darf”, “durfte” and “gedurft”, using the auxiliary verb ‘haben’, as in “Wir haben gedurft” (We have been allowed). As in English, “dürfen” has an active flection and no passive voice. You can learn how to conjugate the verb ‘dürfen’ with the following overview.
by Jakob Straub
Updated on November 7, 2022
How to conjugate the German modal verb dürfen’
10 ways that German and English are similar
Indicative
| PERSON | PRESENT | PAST | PERFECT |
| 1st sing. | ich darf | ich durfte | ich habe gedurft |
| 2nd sing. | du darfst | du durftest | du hast gedurft |
| 3rd sing. | er/sie/es darf | er/sie/es durfte | er/sie/es hat gedurft |
| 1st pl. | wir dürfen | wir durften | wir haben gedurft |
| 2nd. pl. | ihr dürft | ihr durftet | ihr habt gedurft |
| 3rd. pl | sie dürfen | sie durften | sie haben gedurft |
Indicative with the past perfect, future and future perfect
| PERSON | PAST PERFECT | FUTURE | FUTURE PERFECT |
| 1st sing. | ich hatte gedurft | ich werde dürfen | ich werde gedurft haben |
| 2nd sing. | du hattest gedurft | du wirst dürfen | du wirst gedurft haben |
| 3rd sing. | er/sie/es hatte gedurft | er/sie/es wird dürfen | er/sie/es wird gedurft haben |
| 1st pl. | wir hatten gedurft | wir werden dürfen | wir werden gedurft haben |
| 2nd. pl. | ihr hattet gedurft | ihr werdet dürfen | ihr werdet gedurft haben |
| 3rd. pl | sie hatten gedurft | sie werden dürfen | sie werden gedurft haben |
Basic German verbs and conjugation
Subjunctive
| PERSON | PRESENT SUBJ. | PAST SUBJ. | PERFECT SUBJ. |
| 1st sing. | ich dürfe | ich dürfte | ich habe gedurft |
| 2nd sing. | du düfest | du dürftest | du habest gedurft |
| 3rd sing. | er/sie/es dürfe | er/sie/es dürfte | er/sie/es habe gedurft |
| 1st pl. | wir dürfen | wir dürften | wir haben gedurft |
| 2nd. pl. | ihr dürfet | ihr dürftet | ihr habet gedurft |
| 3rd. pl | sie dürfen | sie dürften | sie haben gedurft |
Subjunctive with the past perfect, future and future perfect
| PERSON | PAST PERFECT SUBJ. | FUTURE SUBJ. | FUTURE PERFECT SUBJ. |
| 1st sing. | ich hätte gedurft | ich würde können | ich würde gedurft haben |
| 2nd sing. | du hättest gedurft | du würdest können | du würdest gedurft haben |
| 3rd sing. | er/sie/es hätte gedurft | er/sie/es würde können | er/sie/es würde gedurft haben |
| 1st pl. | wir hätten gedurft | wir würden können | wir würden gedurft haben |
| 2nd. pl. | ihr hättet gedurft | ihr würdet können | ihr würdet gedurft haben |
| 3rd. pl | sie hätten gedurft | sie würden können | sie würden gedurft haben |
How to form basic German sentences
Infinitive, participle and imperative
The infinitive forms of the verb in the present and perfect tense are “dürfen” and “gedurft haben”. The infinitive with ‘to’ is formed as “zu dürfen” and “gedurft zu haben”. The participle forms are “dürfend” in the present and “gedurft” in the perfect tense.
Since ‘dürfen’ is mainly used for giving or denying permission, there is no difference between the present tense and the imperative in conjugation:
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Usage of ‘dürfen’ as a modal verb
In German, you’ll use ‘dürfen’ a lot to give permission or deny it through negation:
As with all German modal verbs, you can construct these phrases by using the conjugated form of ‘dürfen’ followed by another verb in the infinitive. If you want to deny permission, “nicht” for ‘not’ is placed directly after the conjugated modal verb.
You can also use ‘dürfen’ to voice a suspicion or belief. In this case, ‘dürfen’ expresses a high probability of something being right, correct or true.
The verb ‘dürfen’ is also a way of politely asking for permission to do something. The indicative form is already polite, while using the subjunctive is very formal:
Do you want to learn more about German modal verbs? We’ll show you how to use and conjugate modal verbs in German!
Jakob Straub
Jakob is a freelance writer in Barcelona, Spain, and his favorite books have pages all empty. As an expert storyteller, he publishes creative fiction in English and German and helps other authors shape their manuscripts into compelling stories. Thanks to an expertise in a wide range of topics such as writing, literature and productivity to marketing, travel, and technology, he produces engaging content for his clients. Apart from the escape that books offer, Jakob enjoys traveling digital nomad style and stays active with climbing and hiking. Find out more about him on his website or on Goodreads.
