You can express a wish in German using the modal verb ‘möchte’ in a polite and formal way. Among the language’s modals, ‘möchte’ is special because it only occurs in the present tense. We’ll explain why this is the case and how you conjugate it as well as ‘mögen’ from which it is derived.
Conjugating the German modal verb ‘möchte’
‘Möchte’ in German is actually the subjunctive of ‘mögen’ (to like) and therefore a polite way of expressing a desire or wish: “Ich möchte etwas essen” is equal to “I’d like to eat something” in English. You can only use ‘möchte’ in the present tense:
- 1st person singular: “Ich möchte” = I’d like
- 2nd person singular: “Du möchtest” = You’d like
- 3rd person singular: “Er/sie/es möchte” = He/she/it would like
- 1st person plural: “Wir möchten” = We’d like
- 2nd person plural: “Ihr möchtet” = You’d like
- 3rd person plural: “Sie möchten” = They’d like
As you’ll see from the conjugation tables below, ‘möchte’ is the past subjunctive form of ‘mögen’ (to like), an irregular verb with the forms “mag”, “mochte” and “gemocht”. It uses ‘haben’ as an auxiliary verb, as in “ihr habt gemocht” (you have liked). ‘Mögen’ and ‘möchte’ use active flection as a modal verb. We’ll go into greater detail below.
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Conjugating ‘mögen’
Indicative
| PERSON | PRESENT | PAST | PERFECT |
| 1st sing. | ich mag | ich mochte | ich habe gemocht |
| 2nd sing. | du magst | du mochtest | du hast gemocht |
| 3rd sing. | er/sie/es mag | er/sie/es mochte | er/sie/es hat gemocht |
| 1st pl. | wir mögen | wir mochten | wir haben gemocht |
| 2nd. pl. | ihr mögt | ihr mochtet | ihr habt gemocht |
| 3rd. pl | sie mögen | sie mochten | sie haben gemocht |
| PERSON | PAST PERFECT | FUTURE | FUTURE PERFECT |
| 1st sing. | ich hatte gemocht | ich werde mögen | ich werde gemocht haben |
| 2nd sing. | du hattest gemocht | du wirst mögen | du wirst gemocht haben |
| 3rd sing. | er/sie/es hatte gemocht | er/sie/es wird mögen | er/sie/es wird gemocht haben |
| 1st pl. | wir hatten gemocht | wir werden mögen | wir werden gemocht haben |
| 2nd. pl. | ihr hattet gemocht | ihr werdet mögen | ihr werdet gemocht haben |
| 3rd. pl | sie hatten gemocht | sie werden mögen | sie werden gemocht haben |
Subjunctive
| PERSON | PRESENT SUBJ. | PAST SUBJ. | PERFECT SUBJ. |
| 1st sing. | ich möge | ich möchte | ich habe gemocht |
| 2nd sing. | du mögest | du möchtest | du habest gemocht |
| 3rd sing. | er/sie/es möge | er/sie/es möchte | er/sie/es habe gemocht |
| 1st pl. | wir mögen | wir möchten | wir haben gemocht |
| 2nd. pl. | ihr möget | ihr möchtet | ihr habet gemocht |
| 3rd. pl | sie mögen | sie möchten | sie haben gemocht |
| PERSON | PAST PERFECT SUBJ. | FUTURE SUBJ. | FUTURE PERFECT SUBJ. |
| 1st sing. | ich hätte gemocht | ich würde mögen | ich würde gemocht haben |
| 2nd sing. | du hättest gemocht | du würdest mögen | du würdest gemocht haben |
| 3rd sing. | er/sie/es hätte gemocht | er/sie/es würde mögen | er/sie/es würde gemocht haben |
| 1st pl. | wir hätten gemocht | wir würden mögen | wir würden gemocht haben |
| 2nd. pl. | ihr hättet gemocht | ihr würdet mögen | ihr würdet gemocht haben |
| 3rd. pl | sie hätten gemocht | sie würden mögen | sie würden gemocht haben |
Infinitive, participle and imperative
“Mögen” is the infinitive in the present tense whereas “gemocht haben” is the perfect infinitive. The infinitives with ‘to’ are “zu mögen” and “gemocht zu haben”. The verb’s participles are “mögend” and “gemocht”.
‘Mögen’ or ‘möchte’ have no imperative per se. However, you can use both in the present tense either as a question or a statement to tell someone politely to do something:
- 2nd person singular:
“Magst/möchtest du das bitte tun?” = Would you please do that?
“Du magst/möchtest das bitte tun.” = You should do that, please.
- 3rd person singular:
“Mag/möchte er/sie/es das bitte tun?” = Would he/she/it please do that?
“Er/sie/es mag/möchte das bitte tun.” = He/she/it should do that, please.
- 2nd person plural:
“Mögt/möchtet ihr das bitte tun?” = Would you please do that?
“Ihr mögt/möchtet das bitte tun.” = You should do that, please.
- 3rd person plural:
“Mögen/möchten sie das bitte tun?” = Would they please do that?
“Sie mögen/möchten das bitte tun.” = They should do that, please.
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Usage of ‘möchte’ as a modal verb
You can use ‘möchte’ with a second verb in a sentence to express the wish or desire to do something or ask a polite question:
- “Ich möchte ihn bitte sprechen.” = I’d like to talk to him, please.
- “Wir möchten mit den Kindern spielen.” = We’d like to play with the children.
- “Möchtet ihr ein Stück Kuchen?” = Would you like a piece of cake?
You can only use ‘möchte’ in the present tense. If you want to talk about a wish in the past, you have to use ‘wollen:
- “Sie wollten in den Urlaub fahren.” = They wanted to go on holidays.
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When to use ‘möchte’ and ‘mögen’
Keep in mind that ‘möchte’ is a subjunctive form of ‘mögen’. The main difference between the two is that you can use ‘mögen’ as a full verb also, while ‘möchte’ only has modal use. For expressing a wish, ‘möchte’ is the weakest form to express a wish:
- STRONG: “Ich will etwas trinken!” = I want to drink something!
- WEAKER: “Ich mag etwas trinken!” = I (would) like to drink something (now)!
- WEAKEST: “Ich möchte etwas trinken!” = I’d like to drink something!
In spoken German, you’ll hear ‘möchte’ being used almost like a full verb. That is because in many situations, you can drop the second verb in modal usage without losing the meaning, according to context. However, this is colloquial:
- “Ich möchte ein Bier (trinken)!” = I’d like (to drink) a beer!
- “Sie möchten Hamburger (essen).” = They’d like (to eat) hamburgers.
- “Er möchte ins Kino (gehen).” = He’d like to go to the cinema.
- “Ich möchte dich!” = I want you!
- “Sie möchte das (haben/tun).” = She’d like (to have/do) that.”
- “Wir möchten, dass ihr uns besucht.” = We’d like for you to visit us (we’d like that you visit us).
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When you use ‘mögen’ as a full verb, its common use is to state that you like something or someone in general:
- “Ich mag dich” = I like you.
- “Sie mögen Pizza (essen).” = They like/enjoy (eating) pizza.
- Du magst Punk Musik.” = You like punk music.
You can also form concessionary clauses with mögen, though this can appear stilted and you can convey the same meaning with conditional clauses:
- “Mag es auch regnen, ich gehe trotzdem aus.” = May it rain, I’ll still go out. (Even if it rains, I’ll still go out).
- “Du magst alt sein, bist aber gesund.” = You may be old, but you’re healthy.
- “Sie sind lecker, mögen sie auch unansehnlich sein.” = They are tasty, though they may be unsightly.”
- “Möge der Bessere gewinnen!” = May the better one win!
Lastly, you can use ‘mögen’ for indirect speech to report a polite request:
- “Sie hat gesagt, ich möge auf sie warten.” = She said I should wait for her.
- “Du hast mich gebeten, ich möge dir etwas mitbringen.” = You asked me to bring you something.
- “Ich hatte gesagt, dass du aufräumen mögest.” = I had told you that you should tidy up.
Want to learn more about German modals? Here’s how to use and conjugate modal verbs in German!
