dürfen

Modal Verb Dürfen

Level 1

dürfen = to have permission (may).
nicht dürfen = to be forbidden (must not).

How It Works

The verb dürfen is essential for navigating social rules in German.

1. Conjugation (Present Tense)
Notice the stem change and the lack of endings for 'ich' and 'er/sie/es':

  • ich darf
  • du darfst
  • er/sie/es darf
  • wir dürfen
  • ihr dürft
  • sie/Sie dürfen

2. Sentence Structure
As a modal verb, dürfen takes the second position in a standard sentence, while the main action (the infinitive) moves to the very end. This creates a sentence bracket.

3. Permission vs. Prohibition
While dürfen means 'to be allowed to,' its negative form nicht dürfen is the standard way to say 'must not' or 'is not allowed.' Do not confuse this with müssen (obligation).

4. Politeness
Using dürfen in questions (e.g., 'Darf ich...?') is more formal and polite than using können ('Can I...?').

Examples (5)

  1. Darf ich Sie etwas fragen?

    May I ask you something?

    Word by Word: May I you something ask?

    A polite way to ask for permission using the formal 'Sie'.

  2. Hier darf man nicht parken.

    You are not allowed to park here.

    Word by Word: Here may one not park.

    Using 'nicht dürfen' with the impersonal pronoun 'man' to express a general prohibition.

  3. Die Kinder dürfen heute Fernsehen gucken.

    The children are allowed to watch TV today.

    Word by Word: The children may today TV watch.

    Shows the plural form 'dürfen' and the main verb 'gucken' at the end of the sentence.

  4. Du darfst das nicht essen.

    You must not eat that.

    Word by Word: You may that not eat.

    A direct prohibition using the singular 'du' form.

  5. Darf ich mal kurz vorbei?

    May I just get past quickly?

    Word by Word: May I once briefly past?

    In spoken German, the main verb (like 'gehen') is often omitted if the direction is clear.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'nicht müssen' to mean 'must not'.

    Du musst hier nicht rauchen.
    Du darfst hier nicht rauchen.

    'Du musst nicht' means 'you don't have to' (optional). To express a prohibition, you must use 'nicht dürfen'.

  • Adding 'zu' before the infinitive.

    Ich darf hier nicht zu spielen.
    Ich darf hier nicht spielen.

    Modal verbs like 'dürfen' are followed by a bare infinitive without 'zu'.

  • Incorrect conjugation of the 3rd person singular.

    Er darft hier sitzen.
    Er darf hier sitzen.

    The 1st and 3rd person singular of modal verbs never take an ending (no -t).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

dürfenLevel 1Modal Verb Dürfen

Learn This First

To learn 'dürfen', you need to understand basic German sentence structure and how regular verbs are conjugated. Since 'dürfen' is a modal verb, it follows a specific conjugation pattern where the first and third person singular are identical and the stem vowel changes, which is easier to grasp if you already know how standard verbs behave.

Words in This Pattern

dürfen