*Achtung*

We are very familiar with modal verbs in the present tense, but what do we do with them in the past tense? Most often we will use them in the simple past tense.  Throughout Nachbar Nr. 5 you will also see them in the simple past tense. Below is a chart with the forms. We would like you to be aware of these forms, but you are not expected to produce them yet. 

Examples from Nachbar Nr. 5:

Ich wollte aber fragen … (I wanted to ask …)

Wir wollten zwei Wochen in Spanien bleiben, aber dann sind wir nach einer Woche schon nach Hause zurückgefahren. (We wanted to stay in Spain for two weeks, but then we went back home after just one week.)