Sollen Conjugation in German
sollen means “should, to be supposed to” in English, and it is one of the first verbs German learners meet — it sits at number 6 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for German verbs. You will meet it in everyday sentences such as “Ich soll morgen kommen.” — “I should come tomorrow.” — and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of sollen — every tense, every person, the present participle and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: sollen
- English: should, to be supposed to
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: present, preterite, perfect, pluperfect, future, future-perfect, konjunktiv-1, konjunktiv-2, conditional-perfect, imperative, past-participle
- Present participle (Partizip I): sollend
- Past participle (Partizip II): gesollt
- Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)
- Pattern: weak in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for sollen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read sollen in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about sollen
- It is irregular in 11 tense(s): present, preterite, perfect, pluperfect, future, future-perfect, konjunktiv-1, konjunktiv-2, conditional-perfect, imperative, past-participle. Learn those forms as a set rather than guessing them from the infinitive, because the regular pattern will not produce them.
- The perfect tenses use haben: the Perfekt is formed with haben in the present plus the past participle gesollt. The tables on this page give the participle in the form exactly as it appears in the verified dump; the participle itself does not change for person, only the auxiliary does.
- The participles are sollend and gesollt: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the present participle appears as an adjective and the past participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
- Modal verbs have no du-imperative: the verified tables give no du form for sollen — the du cell is marked with a dash — so do not invent one. To give an instruction, use the present tense instead, for example “Du sollst morgen kommen.”
- Ersatzinfinitiv in the perfect: when sollen stands with another verb in a perfect tense, the infinitive replaces the past participle — the Ersatzinfinitiv. The table below gives the main-verb perfect habe gesollt, but with a dependent infinitive you say “Ich habe morgen kommen sollen.” — “I have been supposed to come tomorrow.” This is a usage note, not a separate tense: the participle gesollt is still the form the table lists.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for sollen. Learn the present tense first, then the Perfekt and the preterite, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present (Präsens)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | soll |
| du | sollst |
| er/sie/es | soll |
| wir | sollen |
| ihr | sollt |
| sie/Sie | sollen |
The present (Präsens) is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With sollen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich soll heute Abend zu Hause bleiben.” — “I should stay at home this evening.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sollte |
| du | solltest |
| er/sie/es | sollte |
| wir | sollten |
| ihr | solltet |
| sie/Sie | sollten |
The preterite (Präteritum) is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written German and in stories. With sollen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Du solltest heute Abend zu Hause bleiben.” — “You was supposed to stay at home this evening.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe gesollt |
| du | hast gesollt |
| er/sie/es | hat gesollt |
| wir | haben gesollt |
| ihr | habt gesollt |
| sie/Sie | haben gesollt |
The perfect (Perfekt) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. The table gives the main-verb perfect, built with haben plus the participle gesollt. When sollen stands with a dependent infinitive, the Ersatzinfinitiv replaces the participle: “Ich habe morgen kommen sollen.” — “I have been supposed to come tomorrow.” For example, the ich form in the table is habe gesollt.
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte gesollt |
| du | hattest gesollt |
| er/sie/es | hatte gesollt |
| wir | hatten gesollt |
| ihr | hattet gesollt |
| sie/Sie | hatten gesollt |
The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is used for an action completed before another past action. With sollen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich hatte es gesollt.” — “I had been supposed to do it.”
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde sollen |
| du | wirst sollen |
| er/sie/es | wird sollen |
| wir | werden sollen |
| ihr | werdet sollen |
| sie/Sie | werden sollen |
The future (Futur I) is used for what will happen, for predictions and for intentions. With sollen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich werde es sollen.” — “I will be supposed to do it.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde gesollt haben |
| du | wirst gesollt haben |
| er/sie/es | wird gesollt haben |
| wir | werden gesollt haben |
| ihr | werdet gesollt haben |
| sie/Sie | werden gesollt haben |
The future perfect (Futur II) is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. With sollen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Du wirst es gesollt haben.” — “You will have been supposed to do it.”
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | solle |
| du | sollest |
| er/sie/es | solle |
| wir | sollen |
| ihr | sollet |
| sie/Sie | sollen |
Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech — reporting what someone else said — and in formal written German. With sollen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Er solle heute Abend zu Hause bleiben.” — “He should stay at home this evening.”
Konjunktiv II (conditional)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sollte |
| du | solltest |
| er/sie/es | sollte |
| wir | sollten |
| ihr | solltet |
| sie/Sie | sollten |
Konjunktiv II is used for hypothetical situations, wishes and polite requests. It doubles as the German conditional: there is no separate conditional tense, and the periphrastic alternative with würde + infinitive is not an engine tense. With sollen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich sollte heute Abend zu Hause bleiben.” — “I would be supposed to stay at home this evening.”
Conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + participle)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte gesollt |
| du | hättest gesollt |
| er/sie/es | hätte gesollt |
| wir | hätten gesollt |
| ihr | hättet gesollt |
| sie/Sie | hätten gesollt |
The conditional perfect (Konjunktiv II + past participle) is used for what would have happened in a different past. With sollen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Er hätte es gesollt.” — “He would have been supposed to do it.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | — |
| wir | sollen |
| ihr | sollt |
| sie/Sie | sollen |
The imperative (Imperativ) is used for direct commands, requests and instructions. The verified tables give no imperative form for sollen in the du person — the cell is marked with a dash — because modal verbs have no du-imperative in the dump. Do not invent one: to give an instruction with sollen, German speakers use the present tense instead, for example “Du sollst morgen kommen.” — “You should come tomorrow.” The wir, ihr and sie forms in the table are given exactly as the dump lists them.
Present participle (Partizip I)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | sollend |
The present participle (Partizip I) is used as an adjective or adverb, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle sollend is used to describe something that is happening at the same time as the main action, much like an English -ing adjective.
Past participle (Partizip II)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Past participle (Partizip II) | gesollt |
The past participle (Partizip II) is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Ich habe es gesollt.” — “I have been supposed to do it.”
Infinitive (Infinitiv)
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | sollen |
The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, used after modal verbs and other verbs that take an infinitive. The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb: it is the form you look up, and the form that follows modal verbs and other verbs that take an infinitive.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with sollen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich soll morgen kommen.” — “I should come tomorrow.”
- “Du solltest heute Abend zu Hause bleiben.” — “You was supposed to stay at home this evening.”
- “Er hat es gesollt.” — “He has been supposed to do it.”
- “Ich werde es sollen.” — “I will be supposed to do it.”
- “Du solltest heute Abend zu Hause bleiben.” — “You would be supposed to stay at home this evening.”
- “Ich hatte es gesollt.” — “I had been supposed to do it.”
- “Du wirst es gesollt haben.” — “You will have been supposed to do it.”
- “Er solle den Lehrer fragen.” — “He should ask the teacher.”
- “Ich hätte es gesollt.” — “I would have been supposed to do it.”
- “Du sollst morgen kommen.” — “You should come tomorrow.”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich sollen morgen kommen.”
✓ Right: “Ich soll morgen kommen.”
The infinitive sollen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form soll.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Ich sollen morgen kommen.”
✓ Right: “Ich soll morgen kommen.”
sollen is the sie form, not the ich form. Match the verb to the subject every time: ich goes with soll.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich soll morgen kommen gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe es gesollt.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gesollt, not the present.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich bin morgen kommen gesollt.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe es gesollt.”
The Perfekt of sollen is formed with haben plus the past participle gesollt: the ich form is habe gesollt. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
5. Using the preterite where spoken German prefers the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich sollte morgen kommen gestern.” (in everyday speech)
✓ Right: “Ich habe es gesollt.”
In everyday spoken German the Perfekt habe gesollt is the usual past tense. The preterite sollte is correct in writing and in stories, but it sounds formal in conversation.
6. Inventing a du-imperative for a modal verb
✗ Wrong: “Kann morgen kommen!” (invented du-imperative)
✓ Right: “Du sollst morgen kommen.”
Modal verbs have no du-imperative in the verified tables — the du cell is a dash, not a form. Use the present tense sollst to tell someone what they can or must do.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on sollen. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of sollen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) sollen
- B) sollt
- C) soll
- D) sollst
What is the er/sie/es form of sollen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) solltet
- B) sollte
- C) solltest
- D) sollten
What is the er/sie/es form of sollen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) haben gesollt
- B) hat gesollt
- C) habe gesollt
- D) hast gesollt
What is the du form of sollen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wird sollen
- B) werden sollen
- C) wirst sollen
- D) werde sollen
What is the ich form of sollen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) solltet
- B) sollte
- C) solltest
- D) sollten
What is the wir form of sollen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattest gesollt
- B) hattet gesollt
- C) hatten gesollt
- D) hatte gesollt
What is the er/sie/es form of sollen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) sollet
- B) solle
- C) sollest
- D) sollen
What is the ihr form of sollen in the Imperative (Imperativ)?
- A) solltet
- B) habt gesollt
- C) sollt
- D) sollen
What is the past participle of sollen?
- A) gedurft
- B) gemocht
- C) gesollt
- D) gewollt
What does sollen mean in English?
- A) to like
- B) should, to be supposed to
- C) to want
- D) to be allowed to
Answer key
- C) soll — the ich form of sollen in the Present (Präsens) is soll. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) sollte — the er/sie/es form of sollen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is sollte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) hat gesollt — the er/sie/es form of sollen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gesollt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) wirst sollen — the du form of sollen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst sollen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) sollte — the ich form of sollen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is sollte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hatten gesollt — the wir form of sollen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatten gesollt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) solle — the er/sie/es form of sollen in the Konjunktiv I is solle. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) sollt — the ihr form of sollen in the Imperative (Imperativ) is sollt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) gesollt — the past participle of sollen is gesollt; it is used with haben in the perfect tenses. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- B) should, to be supposed to — sollen means “should, to be supposed to” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does sollen mean in English?
sollen means “should, to be supposed to”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is sollen regular or irregular?
sollen is irregular, and it 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 sollend and the past participle is gesollt.
What are the participles of sollen?
The present participle (Partizip I) is sollend — use it as an adjective for an ongoing action. The past participle (Partizip II) is gesollt — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe gesollt.
Which auxiliary does sollen take in the Perfekt?
sollen takes haben in the Perfekt: the ich form is habe gesollt. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with haben plus the past participle gesollt.
Does German have a separate conditional tense?
No. Konjunktiv II doubles as the conditional: the ich form sollte is the form you use for “would” meanings, and the periphrastic alternative with würde + infinitive is not a separate engine tense. The conditional perfect hätte gesollt covers “would have” meanings.
How do I say “I should come tomorrow” in German?
Say “Ich soll morgen kommen.” — “I should come tomorrow.” The ich form of the present is soll, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of sollen — every tense of sollen in one place.
- Sollen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Sollen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Wollen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Dürfen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Mögen 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 Conjugator — practise sollen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise sollen with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise sollen with the interactive tool.