Dürfen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Dürfen means “to be allowed to”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for dürfen, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with dürfen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich darf hier bleiben.” — “I may stay here.”
- “Du darfst morgen kommen.” — “You may come tomorrow.”
- “Ich habe es gedurft.” — “I have been allowed to do it.”
- “Er durfte hier bleiben.” — “He was allowed to stay here.”
- “Wir werden es dürfen.” — “We will be allowed to do it.”
- “Du hast es gedurft.” — “You have been allowed to do it.”
- “Ich dürfte hier bleiben.” — “I would be allowed to stay here.”
- “Er dürfe morgen kommen.” — “He may come tomorrow.”
- “Wir hatten es gedurft.” — “We had been allowed to do it.”
- “Er wird es dürfen.” — “He will be allowed to do it.”
- “Sie dürfen morgen kommen.” — “They may come tomorrow.”
- “Du darfst das Buch lesen.” — “You may read the book.”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about stay here. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how dürfen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of dürfen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Darfst du hier bleiben?” — “You may stay here?” Jonas: “Ich darf hier bleiben.” — “I may stay here.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde es dürfen.” — “I will be allowed to do it.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe es gedurft.” — “I have been allowed to do it.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich dürfte hier bleiben.” — “I would be allowed to stay here.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Dürfen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of dürfen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, dürfen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is darf: “Ich darf hier bleiben.” — “I may stay here.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, dürfen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is durfte: “Er durfte morgen kommen.” — “He was allowed to come tomorrow.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, dürfen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gedurft. The ich form is habe gedurft: “Ich habe es gedurft.” — “I have been allowed to do it.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, dürfen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden dürfen: “Wir werden es dürfen.” — “We will be allowed to do it.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, dürfen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is dürftest: “Du dürftest morgen kommen.” — “You would be allowed to come tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, dürfen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is dürfe: “Er dürfe das Buch lesen.” — “He may read the book.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich dürfen hier bleiben.”
✓ Right: “Ich darf hier bleiben.”
The infinitive dürfen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form darf.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du darf hier bleiben.”
✓ Right: “Du darfst hier bleiben.”
darf is the ich form. With du you need darfst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich darf hier bleiben gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe es gedurft.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gedurft, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich darf hier bleiben.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich dürfe hier bleiben.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: dürfe, not the indicative darf.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gedurft hier bleiben.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe es gedurft.”
The Perfekt of dürfen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gedurft: the full ich form is habe gedurft.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on dürfen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of dürfen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) darfst
- B) dürfen
- C) dürft
- D) darf
What is the du form of dürfen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) darfst
- B) darf
- C) dürfen
- D) dürft
What is the er/sie/es form of dürfen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) hast gedurft
- B) haben gedurft
- C) hat gedurft
- D) habe gedurft
What is the wir form of dürfen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) durften
- B) durfte
- C) durftest
- D) durftet
What is the du form of dürfen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst dürfen
- B) werde dürfen
- C) wird dürfen
- D) werden dürfen
What is the ich form of dürfen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) dürftest
- B) dürften
- C) dürftet
- D) dürfte
What is the er/sie/es form of dürfen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) dürfest
- B) dürfen
- C) dürfet
- D) dürfe
What is the ich form of dürfen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattet gedurft
- B) hatte gedurft
- C) hattest gedurft
- D) hatten gedurft
What is the past participle of dürfen?
- A) gemocht
- B) gewusst
- C) gegangen
- D) gedurft
What does dürfen mean in English?
- A) to like
- B) to know
- C) to go
- D) to be allowed to
Answer key
- D) darf — the ich form of dürfen in the Present (Präsens) is darf. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) darfst — the du form of dürfen in the Present (Präsens) is darfst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hat gedurft — the er/sie/es form of dürfen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gedurft. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) durften — the wir form of dürfen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is durften. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wirst dürfen — the du form of dürfen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst dürfen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) dürfte — the ich form of dürfen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is dürfte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) dürfe — the er/sie/es form of dürfen in the Konjunktiv I is dürfe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) hatte gedurft — the ich form of dürfen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gedurft. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) gedurft — the past participle of dürfen is gedurft. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to be allowed to — dürfen means “to be allowed to” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does dürfen mean in English?
dürfen means “to be allowed to”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is dürfen regular or irregular?
dürfen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, perfect, pluperfect, future, future-perfect, konjunktiv-1, konjunktiv-2, conditional-perfect, imperative, past-participle. The present participle is dürfend and the past participle is gedurft.
How do I practise dürfen every day?
Say one sentence with dürfen in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich darf hier bleiben.”, “Ich habe es gedurft.” and “Ich werde es dürfen.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for dürfen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of dürfen — every tense of dürfen in one place.
- Dürfen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Dürfen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Mögen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Wissen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Gehen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise dürfen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise dürfen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise dürfen with the interactive tool.