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Topic test · B1

Assumptions with modal verbs test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
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Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

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What does “Er muss krank sein” mean?

He must be sick. A state follows, not an action (krank sein) — that is the sign the modal has moved to its guessing meaning.

“He’s said to be rich” — which one is it?

Er soll reich sein. sollen shows that the information comes from other people — the counterpart of English “is said to”.

What does “Er will Arzt sein” mean?

He claims to be a doctor. For “he wants to become a doctor” you say Er will Arzt werden. The one-word difference between sein and werden flips the meaning.

Er muss krank .

He must have been sick.

gewesen sein. The past-guess pattern: modal + Partizip II + the infinitive of the auxiliary. The auxiliary is not conjugated.

A newspaper writes “Der Täter soll 30 Jahre alt sein”. What does that tell you?

It is reporting. In news language sollen means “I’m not responsible for this”. A reader who misses this takes the story for established fact.

Der Chef noch im Büro sein. (he’s probably still in the office)

The boss is probably still in the office.

dürfte. On the certainty scale this is the 75% soft guess — the “probably” tone. Don’t mix it up with darf: here dürfte is a Konjunktiv II form and carries no permission meaning. muss would give 95% certainty (“he’s definitely in the office”), and soll would give hearsay (“he’s said to be in the office”).

Which one says this?

That can’t be true.

Das kann nicht stimmen. The very bottom of the scale is kann nicht = 0%, that is, impossibility. Das muss nicht stimmen means “it doesn’t have to be true” — that is mere doubt, not impossibility. Das soll nicht stimmen is hearsay: “they say it isn’t true”.

Sie will Lehrerin .

She wants to become a teacher.

werden. Turning into something — a career goal — takes werden. With Sie will Lehrerin sein the meaning would flip: “she claims to be a teacher”. gewesen sein would push that claim into the past: “she claims to have been a teacher”. One word, the exact opposite meaning.

Der Angeklagte will nichts gewusst haben.

der Angeklagte = the defendant

The defendant says he didn’t know — the writer doesn’t believe him. In this meaning wollen reports the person’s own claim and adds doubt; it is the doubt marker of court and police reports. The tell is the perfect infinitive at the end — gewusst haben (Partizip II + haben). “Doesn’t want to know” would keep a plain infinitive: Der Angeklagte will nichts wissen. “It is said that he knew nothing” needs other people’s voice, that is sollen: Der Angeklagte soll nichts gewusst haben.

Das stimmen. (probably true — a cautious guess)

dürfte — the Konjunktiv II form of dürfen. The most cautious rung of the guessing ladder: muss is “certain”, dürfte is “probably”. darf means permission, not a guess.

The sentence Er muss krank sein. says that he is definitely sick and that there is no other possibility.

When müssen is used for an assumption, it expresses a strong guess (90–95%), not 100% certainty.

To talk about a medium probability (50%) — “possible” — you use könnte or the modal verb .

kann. The modal verbs könnte (Konjunktiv II) or kann show that something is possible (a 50% chance).

Build the sentence: That can’t be true. (impossible)

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

Das kann nicht stimmen. The nicht können structure expresses that the chance of something being true is zero (impossible).
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. Modal + sein = a guess

    If the modal is followed by a state rather than an action (krank sein · zu Hause sein), it no longer expresses obligation but a guess. Er muss arbeiten = he has to work; Er muss krank sein = he must be sick.

    Er muss krank sein. · Sie dürfte schon zu Hause sein.

  2. The certainty ladder

    Swapping the modal in the same sentence changes the strength of the guess: muss (certain) → dürfte (probably) → könnte (might) → kann nicht (impossible). English does this with “must · probably · might · can’t”.

    Das muss stimmen. → Das dürfte stimmen. → Das könnte stimmen. → Das kann nicht stimmen.

  3. sollen and wollen report, they don’t guess

    sollen = other people say so (newspaper German). wollen = the subject’s own claim, and the writer keeps a distance. Neither is the speaker’s guess; they point to the source.

    Er soll reich sein. (that’s what they say) · Er will Arzt sein. (he claims so)

  4. Guess about the past: Partizip II + sein/haben

    If the guess is about the past, the perfect infinitive replaces the plain infinitive: gewesen sein · gemacht haben. The modal is still conjugated and the rest stays frozen.

    Er muss krank gewesen sein. · Sie will nichts gewusst haben.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Er muss krank gewesen ist.

    Er muss krank gewesen sein.

    After a modal there is always an infinitive. Even in the Perfekt it stays an infinitive — not the conjugated ist, but the infinitive sein.

  • Er soll krank sein — I think he’s sick.

    Er soll krank sein — that’s what they say.

    sollen passes on what was heard, not the speaker’s own opinion. To give your own guess you need dürfte or muss.

  • Das darf stimmen.

    Das dürfte stimmen.

    The guessing meaning lives in the Konjunktiv II form of dürfen (dürfte). Plain darf means permission.

  • Sie will Lehrerin sein — she wants to become a teacher.

    Sie will Lehrerin werden — she wants to become a teacher.

    Becoming a profession is werden. wollen with Lehrerin sein slides into “she claims to be a teacher”.