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Topic test · A1

mögen · möchten test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
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Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

I’d like a coffee. (ordering politely in a café)

möchte. An order is always placed with möchten. mag means “I like”, and will sounds blunt.

I like cats.

mag. A general taste is being described → mögen. möchte slides towards “I want some right now”.

Er einen Tee.

He’d like a tea.

möchte. With modal verbs the er/sie/es form is the same as ich. möchtet is the ihr form and möchtest the du form.

Do you like fish?

Magst du. The du form is magst. Möchtest du Fisch? would mean “would you like some fish now?” — an offer.

I’d like to pay. (asking for the bill)

möchte zahlen. möchten can take a second verb, and that verb stays in the infinitive — no zu.

Would you like something to drink? (a polite offer)

Möchten Sie. The standard pattern for offers and hospitality. Mögen Sie… asks about taste. With Sie the verb ends in -en; möchtest is only for du.

She doesn’t like fish.

keinen Fisch. When you negate a noun with no article, use kein; der Fisch becomes keinen in the Akkusativ.

What is the difference between mögen and möchten?

Ich mag Kaffee = I like coffee (always). Ich möchte einen Kaffee = I’d like a coffee now. Orders always go with möchte.

ihr Pizza? (do you like)

Do you (all) like pizza?

The ihr form is mögt. Plural wir/sie mögen, singular ich/er mag.

“I don’t want a coffee” (when ordering) — which one?

I don’t want a coffee.

The noun is negated with kein: keinen Kaffee. The nicht Kaffee pattern is broken.

In the present tense (Präsens), the first person singular of “mögen” is “ich möge”.

False. mögen (to like) is a modal verb. In the present tense the stem vowel changes in the singular, and the first person singular is ich mag. möge is only a subjunctive form (Konjunktiv I), not needed at A1.

Ich Pizza sehr.

I like pizza a lot.

mag. The first person singular (ich) of mögen is irregular: the stem vowel changes and it becomes mag.

Build the sentence: He doesn’t like tomatoes.

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

Er mag keine Tomaten. The modal verb mögen is conjugated in second position. Because a noun with no article (Tomaten) is negated, kein- is used.
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. mag = I like, möchte = I’d like

    Ich mag Kaffee is a general taste; Ich möchte einen Kaffee is a wish of the moment. Mix them up and you misreport either your character or your order.

    Ich mag Katzen. · Ich möchte einen Tee.

  2. mögen is usually on its own

    It comes from the modal family but is normally used without a second verb: Ich mag Fisch.

    Magst du Fisch?

  3. Ordering: möchte + bitte

    Ich möchte zahlen, bitte. · Möchten Sie etwas trinken? — service language is this pattern from start to finish.

    Ich möchte einen Kaffee, bitte.

  4. Conjugation: mag/möchte are separate rows

    ich mag · du magst · er mag · ihr mögt — ich möchte · du möchtest · er möchte (no -t in the third person singular!).

    er möchte

Traps

Commonly mixed up

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

  • Ich mag einen Kaffee. (when ordering)

    Ich möchte einen Kaffee.

    mag is general liking; the waiter looks at you as if to say “and?”.

  • Er möchtet einen Tee.

    Er möchte einen Tee.

    möchte takes no -t in the third person singular.

  • Ich möchte nicht Kaffee.

    Ich möchte keinen Kaffee.

    The noun is negated with kein.

  • Sie mag nicht Fisch.

    Sie mag keinen Fisch.

    Same rule: a bare noun + kein.