We already have seen in past
tenses the formation of tenses with modals is a
bit different from the usual form. The perfect participle
is not used for modals. As you can see in the following
examples:
| formation
of present, present perfect and past perfect |
 |
tense |
present |
present perfect |
past perfect |
| |
correct |
Ich muss es machen. |
Ich habe es machen müssen. |
Ich hatte es machen müssen. |
|
| |
incorrect |
- |
Ich habe es machen gemusst. |
Ich hatte es machen gemusst. |
| |
English |
I must do it.
I have to do it. |
I have to have done it. |
I had to have done it. |
| |
tense |
present |
present perfect |
past perfect |
| |
correct |
Ich soll es machen. |
Ich habe es machen sollen. |
Ich hatte es machen sollen. |
|
| |
incorrect |
- |
Ich habe es machen gesollt. |
Ich hatte es machen gesollt. |
| |
English |
I shall do it. |
I should have done it. |
--- |
| |
tense |
present |
present perfect |
past perfect |
| |
correct |
Ich will es machen. |
Ich habe es machen wollen. |
Ich hatte es machen wollen. |
|
| |
incorrect |
- |
Ich habe es machen gewollt. |
Ich hatte es machen wollen. |
| |
English |
I want to do it. |
I have wanted to do it. |
I had wanted to do it. |
|
These examples show that normally we do not need the perfect participle of a modal verb. If the modal verb is used with a full verb, the infinitive is used instead of the perfect participle. The perfect participle is only used in the few cases when a modal verb is used without a full verb. If put to Google the sentence: Ich habe gesollt. appears 16 times, all of which are pages that explain German grammar. You see it's not really something used in the "real world".
| formation
of the perfect if there is no main verb (in negative
clauses) |
|
Das habe
ich nicht gewollt.
= I have not wanted this. |
|
| |
Ich habe ihn nicht
gemocht.
= I didn't like him. |
|
| |
Er hat das nicht
gedurft.
= He has not been allowed to do it. |
|
|
Since the perfect participles sound quite strange instead
of the perfect the imperfect is used more often with
modal verbs.
|
Das wollte
ich nicht.
= He didn't want this. |
|
| |
Ich mochte ihn nicht.
= I didn't like him. |
|
| |
Er durfte das nicht.
= He was not allowed
to do it. |
|
|
The compound tenses are overall used rarely with modal
verbs. For didactical reasons we put them into the tables
for your better overview.
| 
