How to Conjugate the Modal Verb ‘Möchte’

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’
Conjugating ‘mögen’ in German
Usage of ‘möchte’ as a modal verb

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‘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:

PERSON	German	English
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’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.

Conjugating ‘mögen’ in German

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.

You can use ‘möchte’ in German 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’ in German

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).

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!

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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.