This week's episode of 3 Minuten Deutsch covered the difference between "mögen", "möchten", and "wollen". Technically, they are only two modal auxiliaries and one extra form of one of the two, but it is so commonly used as if it were its own verb, it is easier for the learner to just pretend that "möchten" is a verb of its own.
Let's start with the conjugation and meaning of each word.
mögen - to like
ich mag
du magst
er, sie, es mag
wir mögen
ihr mögt
sie, Sie mögen
möchten - would like (subjunctive form of "mögen")
ich möchte
du möchtest
er, sie, es möchte
wir möchten
ihr möchtet
sie, Sie möchten
wollen - to want
ich will
du willst
er, sie, es will
wir wollen
ihr wollt
sie, Sie wollen
"Mögen" is generally used as a stand alone verb. It is essentially the same thing as the combination of "haben" and "gern". That means there are two ways to say that you like something (there is also a third one, but we will save "gefallen" for another time). Let's see some examples to see the comparison between the two.
Ich habe Pizza gern. - I like pizza.
Ich mag Pizza. - I like pizza.
Hast du Pasta gern? - Do you like pasta?
Magst du Pasta? - Do you like pasta?
Er hat Kuchen gern. - He likes cakes.
Er mag Kuchen. - He likes cakes.
Sie hat Kekse gern. - She likes cookies.
Sie mag Kekse. - She likes cookies.
Wir haben Schnitzel gern. - We like schnitzel.
Wir mögen Schnitzel. - We like schnitzel.
"Möchten" is technically the subjunctive form of "mögen". The subjunctive is used to express hypothetical situations and polite forms. In this instance it is used to indicate the polite form "would like". "Wollen" means "to want". As in English, "to want" and "would like" are both very similar. "Would like" is considered to be more polite in English and in German "möchten" is considered to be more polite than "wollen". Let's take a look at a few more examples to illustrate the point.
Ich will einen Keks. - I want a cookie.
Ich möchte einen Keks. - I would like a cookie.
Er will einen Kuchen kaufen. - He wants to buy a cake.
Er möchte einen Kuchen kaufen. - He would like to buy a cake.
Wir wollen die Suppe bestellen. - We want to order the soup.
Wir möchten die Suppe bestellen. - We would like to order the soup.
Was wollt ihr? - What do you want?
Was möchtet ihr? - What would you like?
Don't forget that if you use another verb with a modal auxiliary, the verb goes to the end of the sentence as an infinitive. This is the form you will find in the dictionary or the form with an -en at the end of the verb.
With this little bit of information about "mögen", "möchten", and "wollen" you should be able to use these three words properly in whatever situation that they would merit.
What's next?
Next week I will talk about the difference (or lack thereof) between "dürfen" and "können" in another episode of 3 Minuten Deutsch.
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