Did you ever wonder what is the real difference between “mögen” und “möchten”? After reading this article and solving its free worksheet you will never have to ask yourself this question again!
In German, there are two very similar words: “mögen” and “möchten”. Both of them have a very different meaning and therefore mixing them up, might bring you in tricky situations. The meaning of “mögen” is “to like” and the meaning of “möchten” is “would like to”. Both words are normally followed by an accusative object and both of them are conjugated irregular:
Present tense:
| mögen (to like) | möchten (would like to) |
| ich mag | ich möchte |
| du magst | du möchtest |
| er/sie/es mag | er/sie/es möchte |
| wir mögen | wir möchten |
| ihr mögt | ihr möchtet |
| sie mögen | sie möchten |
| Sie mögen | Sie möchten |
Now, when we would like to put both verbs into the past tense, there is a little problem! When “mögen” becomes “mochte” in Präteritum, so one asks oneself, what should happen with “möchten”? Well, that’s easy! This verb does not have a real past tense and it would confuse too much with the past tense “mögen” is using and therefore we simply use the past tense of “wollen” (to want).
| Mögen | Möchten | |||
| Präteritum | Perfekt | Präteritum | Perfekt | |
| ich | mochte | habe gemocht | wollte | habe gewollt |
| du | mochtest | hast gemocht | wolltest | hast gewollt |
| er/sie/es | mochte | hat gemocht | wollte | hat gewollt |
| wir | mochten | haben gemocht | wollten | haben gewollt |
| ihr | mochtet | habt gemocht | wolltet | habt gewollt |
| sie | mochten | haben gemocht | wollten | haben gewollt |
| Sie | mochten | haben gemocht | wollten | haben gewollt |
After reading this article you can practice your knowledge with the free worksheet – The Difference between “mögen” und “möchten”. Finally, you will not be confused anymore while using these similar sounding verbs.
Bis bald!
Steffie