In the
past tenses we already had a short glance at modal
verbs. The definition of modal verbs is that modal verbs do
not express an action but clarify the semantic value
of the main verb (which describes the action of the
subject).
Ich
muss
zahlen. = I have
to pay. / I must
pay.
Ich
will
zahlen. = I want
to pay.
Ich
kann
zahlen. = I can
pay.
As you can see in the examples the meaning between the
three sentences is quite different even though the main
verb is in all three the same.
