Dutch Modal Verbs: kunnen, mogen, moeten, willen — A1 Dutch Grammar Course, Lesson 22 | My Dutch Journal

Dutch Modal Verbs: kunnen, mogen, moeten, willen | A1 Dutch, Lesson 22

July 4, 2026

Chef Smakelijk — the My Dutch Journal mascot

Welcome to lesson twenty-two of the A1 Dutch Grammar Course. In the previous lesson you learned diminutives — the -je suffix that makes nouns smaller or cosier. In this lesson you are going to learn the four most important Dutch modal verbs: willen, kunnen, mogen, and moeten. A modal verb changes the meaning of another verb in the sentence. Instead of saying I drink coffee, you say I want to drink coffee — and that extra meaning of wanting, being able to, being allowed to, or having to is expressed by a modal verb. In Dutch, modal verbs have two important features: their conjugation is irregular, and in a main sentence the second verb goes to the end in the infinitive. You will learn all of this step by step.

De vier modale werkwoorden

There are four modal verbs in this lesson. The first is willen, which means want to. Ik wil thee drinken — I want to drink tea. Wij willen een huis kopen — we want to buy a house. The second is kunnen, which means can or be able to. Jij kunt goed zwemmen — you can swim well. Kunnen jullie morgen komen? — can you come tomorrow? The third is mogen, which means may or be allowed to. Mag ik hier zitten? — may I sit here? De kinderen mogen een ijsje eten — the children are allowed to eat an ice cream. The fourth is moeten, which means must or have to. Ik moet vroeg opstaan — I have to get up early. Zij moeten het formulier invullen — they must fill in the form. These four verbs cover the most common modal meanings you will encounter in everyday Dutch.

De vervoeging — onregelmatig!

Let us look at how these four verbs are conjugated. They are all irregular — they do not follow the normal Dutch conjugation rules. The most important thing to notice is the ik-form. In regular Dutch verbs, the ik-form is the verb stem and it never takes a -t. Modal verbs follow the same rule: ik wil — not willt. Ik kan — not kant. Ik mag — not magt. Ik moet — not moett. Now look at the jij and hij forms. In a normal statement, you can say jij wil or jij wilt — both are used. For kunnen, you can say jij kan or jij kunt — both are used. But in questions with jij or je after the verb, the -t drops: Wil jij? — not Wilt jij?. For mogen, the form is always mag — no -t option. For moeten, the form is always moet. The plural forms are regular: willen, kunnen, mogen, and moeten for wij, jullie, and zij — the same as the infinitive.

Pronoun	willen	kunnen	mogen	moeten
ik	wil	kan	mag	moet
jij / je	wil / wilt	kan / kunt	mag	moet
u	wilt / wil	kunt / kan	mag	moet
hij / zij	wil	kan	mag	moet
wij / we	willen	kunnen	mogen	moeten
jullie	willen	kunnen	mogen	moeten
zij / ze	willen	kunnen	mogen	moeten

De gouden regel: infinitief aan het einde

Here is the golden rule for modal verbs. When a modal verb is used with a second verb, the modal verb goes in position two — right after the subject — and the second verb, in its infinitive form, goes to the very end of the sentence. The sentence structure is: subject, modal verb, rest of the sentence, infinitive at the end. Ik wil vanavond televisie kijken — I want to watch television tonight. Kijken goes to the end. Zij kan heel goed koken — she can cook very well. Koken goes to the end. Jullie mogen een koekje pakken — you are allowed to take a cookie. Hij moet elke dag medicijnen innemen — he has to take medication every day. In a question, the modal verb moves to position one: Kun jij goed zwemmen? Mag ik hier zitten? Moet jij morgen werken? The infinitive always stays at the end of the sentence.

Veelgebruikte combinaties

Let us look at some of the most common combinations you will hear and use in everyday Dutch. With willen: Wat wil jij drinken? — what do you want to drink? Ze willen een huis kopen — they want to buy a house. With kunnen: Kun jij mij helpen? — can you help me? Wij kunnen morgen niet komen — we cannot come tomorrow. With mogen: Mag ik uw naam vragen? — may I ask your name? This is a polite request — you use mag ik when you are asking permission for yourself. Je mag hier niet roken — you may not smoke here. Mag niet means it is not permitted. With moeten: Ik moet nu gaan — I have to go now. Moeten wij dit formulier invullen? — do we have to fill in this form? Pay attention to the question structure: Moeten wij — the modal verb comes first, and invullen goes to the end.

Key Takeaways

Here is what you learned in this lesson. There are four A1 modal verbs: willen means want to, kunnen means can or be able to, mogen means may or be allowed to, and moeten means must or have to. All four are irregular — the ik-form has no -t: ik wil, ik kan, ik mag, ik moet. For jij and u, you may also see wilt and kunt. For hij and zij, the forms are wil, kan, mag, moet. The most important rule is word order: the modal verb goes in position two, and the second verb — always the infinitive — goes to the end of the sentence. Ik wil koffie drinken. Mag ik hier zitten? This rule applies to all four modal verbs without exception. In lesson twenty-three you will learn ontkenning — how to make sentences negative in Dutch using niet and geen.

De vier modale werkwoorden	De woordvolgorde
willen = want to: ik wil — wij willen	Modal verb → positie 2 (of positie 1 in vraag)
kunnen = can: ik kan — wij kunnen	Tweede werkwoord → infinitief aan het einde
mogen = may: ik mag — wij mogen	Ik wil koffie drinken.
moeten = must: ik moet — wij moeten	Mag ik hier zitten?

Practice What You Learned

Reading about grammar is step one — using it is what makes it stick. In My Dutch Journal Academy you can watch the full video of this lesson, do interactive exercises that check your answers instantly, and practise all the vocabulary from the A1 course.