dürfen
German, verb/ˈdʏrfən/
dürfen is spelled D-Ü-R-F-E-N (6 letters) and appears 166 times per million words in written German, the 523rd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Dürfen is a German verb meaning “to be allowed (to do something); to be permitted (to do something); may” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “die Erlaubnis haben, etwas zu tun”.
What does dürfen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to be allowed (to do something); to be permitted (to do something); may
Darf ich gehen?
- 2
to be allowed or permitted to do something implied or previously stated; may
Ja, du darfst.
- 3
expresses a prediction with mild doubt, that something is estimated or probable
Der Zug dürfte in ein paar Minuten ankommen.
- 4
colloquialmust, to have [got] to, gotta
Und nun ich darf wieder hinter euch aufräumen.
- 5
obsoleteto need, to require
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. die Erlaubnis haben, etwas zu tun 2. die Erlaubnis zu etwas haben 3. bei Verwendung im Konjunktiv II kann eine Vermutung ausgedrückt werden
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of dürfen
- darf present singular third-person
- durfte past
- gedurft participle past
- dürfte past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- dürfend participle present
- dürfe first-person singular subjunctive
- darfst indicative present second-person
- dürft indicative plural present
- dürfest second-person singular subjunctive
- dürfet plural second-person subjunctive
- durften first-person indicative plural
- dürften first-person plural subjunctive
- durftest indicative preterite second-person
- durftet indicative plural preterite
- dürftest second-person singular subjunctive
- dürftet plural second-person subjunctive
- habe gedurft first-person indicative multiword-construction
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce dürfen?
- /ˈdʏrfən/
- [ˈdʏʁf(ə)n]
- [ˈdʏɐ̯f(ə)n]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to dürfen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is dürfen in German?
dürfen appears 166 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).