Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that express ability, necessity, desire, obligation, or permission, and German has six of them to learn. "Können" means can or to be able to; "müssen" means must or to have to; "wollen" means to want to; "sollen" means should or ought to; "dürfen" means may or to be allowed to; and "mögen" means to like. In the present tense, each follows its own conjugation pattern: ich kann, du kannst, er kann; ich muss, du musst, er muss; ich will, du willst, er will; ich soll, du sollst, er soll; ich darf, du darfst, er darf; and ich mag, du magst, er mag.
A useful quirk of "mögen" is its subjunctive form "möchte," which softens "want" into "would like" and is a polite way to express a wish. When using any modal verb, the modal itself sits in the second position of the sentence (where a normal main verb would go), and the main verb is pushed all the way to the end of the clause in its infinitive form. So "Ich kann Deutsch sprechen" literally places "kann" in second position and "sprechen" at the end, even though in English you would say "I can speak German" in a more natural rhythm.
Beyond modal verbs, German follows a few predictable word-order principles. In a main statement, the structure is subject, verb, then object, with the conjugated verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. After a subordinating conjunction such as "weil" (because), the conjugated verb is pushed to the very end, so "weil ich müde bin" places "bin" at the end of the clause. In yes/no questions, the verb moves to the very first position, producing "Sprichst du Deutsch?" When arranging adverbial details, German uses a time-manner-place order, so a sentence like "Ich fahre morgen schnell nach Berlin" places the time expression first, then the manner, then the destination.