Forming the present perfect Tense
You've been using modal auxiliaries in the present and past tenses. Now it's time to look at them in the present perfect tense and the future tense. They do something special in those tenses, but it's nothing to get nervous about. All of the modal auxiliaries use haben in the present perfect tense. And they all form their participles like regular verbs, using the ge– prefix and –t suffix.
If the modal is the only verb in the sentence, you can conjugate it in the present perfect tense just like a regular verb. For example: Ich kann es nicht (I am not able to) becomes Ich habe es nicht gekonnt (I was not able to). The modal past participles look like this:
But modal auxiliaries are used much more often with other verbs: Ich will meinem Bruder
Sie hat nicht mitkommen dürfen.She has not been permitted to come along.Wir haben es nicht verstehen können.We haven't been able to understand it.Ich habe meinem Bruder helfen müssen.I have had to help my brother.Die Kinder haben im Garten spielen wollen.The children have wanted to play in the garden.Ich habe nicht mitgehen können.I wasn't able to go along.
Exercise 16-2
Restate the following present tense sentences in the present perfect tense.
Musst du zu Hause bleiben? (Do you have to stay at home?)
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Mein Vetter kann Klavier spielen. (My cousin can play the piano.)
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Darf er mit deiner Frau tanzen? (May he dance with your wife?)
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Der Lehrer soll lauter sprechen. (The teacher should talk louder.)
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Wir wollen Brot mit Käse essen. (We want to eat bread with cheese.)
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Ich muss viel arbeiten. (I have to work a lot.)
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Die Jungen können Tennis spielen. (The boys can play tennis.)
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Dürft ihr mit der Katze spielen? (Are you allowed to play with the cat?)
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Die Männer sollen weniger Bier trinken. (The men should drink less beer.)
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Will sie Karl kennen lernen? (Does she want to meet Karl?)
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When a modal auxiliary is used in a double infinitive structure in the present perfect tense, its translation is usually stated in the simple past tense in order to avoid an awkward structure in English. For example, Thomas hat Englisch lernen wollen. (Thomas wanted to learn English.)
