Mogen in Dutch: Permission and Prohibition

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concept: nl-a1-mogen lang: nl ui: en title: Mogen in Dutch: Permission and Prohibition description: >- Learn to use Dutch mogen for permission, prohibition, polite questions, and liking, with its forms, word order, examples, and common mistakes. generation: article: version: native-ui-reference-v3.1 model: openai-codex/gpt-5.6-sol at: 2026-07-11T16:19:22Z reviews: spell-check: status: clean at: 2026-07-11T16:19:22Z score: 0 score-english: null score-coverage: null criteria: v7 language-mixing: status: clean at: 2026-07-11T16:20:15Z criteria: v2

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In Brief

Dutch mogen means “may” or “to be allowed to.” Its singular present form is mag, its plural form is mogen, and another verb normally goes at the end in the infinitive (its basic form): Ik mag gaan (“I may go”). Niet mogen expresses a prohibition: Je mag hier niet parkeren means “You must not park here.”

Overview

Mogen is a modal verb: a verb that adds an idea such as permission to another action. You use it to ask whether something is allowed, give permission, say that something is forbidden, and make courteous requests or offers. It is therefore one of the most useful Dutch verbs at A1 level: Mag ik binnenkomen? is the natural way to ask “May I come in?”

For an English speaker, the basic meaning is familiar, but the grammar differs in two important ways. First, Dutch changes the verb: mag is used with all singular subjects, while mogen is used with plural subjects. Second, if another verb is present, Dutch places its infinitive near the end of the clause: Wij mogen vandaag eerder vertrekken (“We may leave earlier today”).

There is also a useful difference in meaning. English “may not” can sometimes mean either “perhaps not” or “not allowed.” Dutch niet mogen normally means “not be allowed”: Hij mag niet komen usually says that he is not permitted to come. To express uncertainty, Dutch generally uses words such as misschien (“perhaps”) instead.

How It Works

Present-tense forms

The present tense of mogen is irregular. Do not try to build the singular forms from the infinitive as if it were a regular verb.

Person	Dutch form	English meaning
ik	mag	I may / am allowed
jij / je	mag	you may / are allowed
u	mag	you may / are allowed (formal)
hij / zij / ze / het	mag	he / she / it may; is allowed
wij / we	mogen	we may / are allowed
jullie	mogen	you may / are allowed (plural)
zij / ze	mogen	they may / are allowed

Unlike many Dutch verbs, jij does not add -t here: jij mag, not jij magt. The formal pronoun u also takes mag.

Mogen with another verb

The usual pattern is:

subject + form of mogen + other information + infinitive

• Ik mag vanavond uitgaan. — I am allowed to go out tonight.
• We mogen hier zitten. — We may sit here.
• Sara mag de auto gebruiken. — Sara is allowed to use the car.

The subject is the person or thing the sentence is about. The infinitive is the unchanged dictionary form of the second verb, such as gaan, zitten, or gebruiken. It does not take te after mogen: say Ik mag gaan, never Ik mag te gaan.

A separable verb stays together when it is an infinitive at the end: Mag ik binnenkomen? and Je mag je jas uitdoen. It does not split into binnen ... komen or uit ... doen in this structure.

Questions

For a yes-or-no question, put the finite verb—the verb carrying the present-tense form—before the subject:

mag/mogen + subject + other information + infinitive?

• Mag ik binnenkomen? — May I come in?
• Mag u hier parkeren? — Are you allowed to park here?
• Mogen de kinderen buiten spelen? — May the children play outside?

With a question word, that word comes first:

• Waar mogen we zitten? — Where may we sit?
• Wanneer mag ik bellen? — When may I call?
• Waarom mogen zij niet mee? — Why are they not allowed to come along?

Dutch often uses Mag ik ...? in everyday polite interaction. It can request permission (Mag ik het raam openen?) or introduce courteous service language (Mag ik u helpen?).

Negation: niet mogen

To forbid an action, use niet with mogen:

• Je mag hier niet roken. — You must not smoke here.
• Jullie mogen de deur niet openen. — You are not allowed to open the door.
• Ik mag van de dokter geen alcohol drinken. — The doctor says I may not drink alcohol.

Use geen rather than niet before an indefinite noun when it means “no/not any”: Je mag geen foto’s maken (“You may not take photos”). The prohibition still comes from mogen; geen negates the noun foto’s.

Be careful when translating into English. Dutch Je mag niet ... is often best translated as “You must not ...,” even though Dutch moeten means “must.” By contrast, Je hoeft niet ... means “You do not have to ...”; it removes an obligation rather than imposing a prohibition.

Naming the person who gives permission

Use van to identify the person or authority whose permission matters:

• Ik mag van mijn ouders naar het feest. — My parents allow me to go to the party.
• Hij mag van zijn moeder. — His mother allows him (to do it).
• Van de leraar mogen we woordenboeken gebruiken. — The teacher allows us to use dictionaries.

This construction does not translate word for word into natural English. Think of van mijn ouders as “with my parents’ permission” or “according to my parents.” The action may be left unstated when everyone already knows what it is, as in Hij mag van zijn moeder.

Using mogen without a second verb

A second verb can be omitted when the context supplies it:

• Mag dat? — Is that allowed?
• Ja, dat mag. — Yes, that is allowed.
• Nee, dat mag niet. — No, that is not allowed.
• Ik wil mee, maar ik mag niet. — I want to come along, but I am not allowed to.

This is very common in conversation. English often needs “do so,” “be allowed,” or another repeated verb where Dutch simply uses mag.

Examples in Context

Dutch	English	Note
Mag ik binnenkomen?	May I come in?	Basic request for permission
Je mag hier niet roken.	You must not smoke here.	Niet mogen is prohibition
Hij mag van zijn moeder.	His mother allows him.	The action is understood from context
Ik mag haar graag.	I like her.	Fixed use expressing personal liking
Mag ik uw naam weten?	May I have your name?	Polite, formal question with u/uw
We mogen vandaag eerder naar huis.	We are allowed to go home earlier today.	Plural form mogen
Jullie mogen één vraag stellen.	You may ask one question.	Permission with a stated limit
De kinderen mogen buiten spelen.	The children may play outside.	Plural subject
U mag hier plaatsnemen.	You may take a seat here.	Courteous formal instruction
Waar mag ik mijn fiets neerzetten?	Where may I put my bicycle?	Question word first; infinitive last
Bezoekers mogen geen foto’s maken.	Visitors may not take photos.	Geen negates foto’s
Mag ik u iets aanbieden?	May I offer you something?	Polite offer
Dat mag je zelf kiezen.	You may choose that yourself.	Dat is placed first for emphasis
Van de dokter mag ze weer werken.	Her doctor says she may work again.	Van identifies the authority
Nee, dat mag niet.	No, that is not allowed.	No second verb is needed

Common Mistakes

Adding a regular -t to the singular

• Wrong: Jij magt hier zitten.
• Right: Jij mag hier zitten.
• Why: Mogen is irregular. All present-tense singular subjects use mag, with no -t.

Using the plural form with a singular subject

• Wrong: Hij mogen mee.
• Right: Hij mag mee.
• Why: Use mag for ik, jij, u, hij, zij, and het. Use mogen with plural subjects.

Adding te before the second verb

• Wrong: Wij mogen te vertrekken.
• Right: Wij mogen vertrekken.
• Why: A modal verb is followed by the bare infinitive—the basic verb without te.

Keeping English word order

• Wrong: Ik mag gaan morgen naar huis.
• Right: Ik mag morgen naar huis gaan.
• Why: In a main clause with a modal, the other verb normally goes at the end. Short alternatives such as Ik mag morgen naar huis are possible when a directional phrase makes gaan easy to omit, but do not place gaan directly after mag by English habit.

Confusing prohibition with lack of obligation

• Wrong for “You do not have to come”: Je mag niet komen.
• Right: Je hoeft niet te komen.
• Why: Je mag niet komen means that coming is forbidden. Je hoeft niet te komen means that coming is optional.

Translating “I may not come” mechanically

• Potentially misleading: Ik mag niet komen.
• Right for uncertainty: Misschien kom ik niet.
• Why: Ik mag niet komen normally means “I am not allowed to come,” not “Perhaps I will not come.”

Usage Notes

Mag ik ...? works in both informal and formal situations. Formality is shown mainly through the pronoun and surrounding vocabulary: compare Mag ik je iets vragen? (“May I ask you something?”) with Mag ik u iets vragen? The version with u suits strangers, customers, and formal contexts.

Permission can sound like a gentle instruction when the speaker has authority. U mag hier wachten literally says “You may wait here,” but in a reception area it can function as the courteous equivalent of “Please wait here.” Tone and situation tell you whether the sentence grants a choice or politely directs someone.

In notices and rules, plural or impersonal subjects are frequent: Bezoekers mogen ..., Kinderen mogen ..., and Men mag ... (“one/people may ...”). A direct prohibition may instead use verboden: Roken verboden (“No smoking”). The mogen version is more sentence-like and often more conversational.

The expression iemand graag mogen means to like someone: Ik mag haar graag. Here graag does not simply mean “gladly,” and there is no second verb. This expression is idiomatic and usually refers to warm personal regard. In everyday Dutch, Ik vind haar aardig (“I think she is nice”) or Ik vind haar leuk (“I like her”) may be more transparent alternatives, depending on the intended meaning.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these forms at A1, but you will encounter them later.

Past forms: mocht and mochten

The simple past is mocht in the singular and mochten in the plural:

Person	Past form	Example
ik / jij / u / hij / zij / het	mocht	Ik mocht langer blijven. — I was allowed to stay longer.
wij / jullie / zij	mochten	We mochten gratis naar binnen. — We were allowed in for free.

Mocht can also make a suggestion or condition sound careful and polite: Mocht u nog vragen hebben, bel ons dan (“Should you have any further questions, call us”). This is a formal conditional use, not past permission.

Perfect constructions and the double infinitive

With a second verb, Dutch normally uses two infinitives after the auxiliary hebben:

• Ik heb niet mogen komen. — I was not allowed to come.
• We hebben de auto mogen gebruiken. — We were allowed to use the car.

This is called a double infinitive: two basic verb forms appear together. Learners may expect a past participle (a form like English “allowed” or Dutch gewerkt), but standard Dutch uses mogen komen and mogen gebruiken here, not a form such as gemoogd. This pattern belongs to later study of modal verbs in the perfect tense.

Permission, probability, and wishes

Modern everyday mogen mainly concerns permission, but more advanced or formal Dutch also uses it in set patterns:

• Het mag duidelijk zijn dat ... — It should be clear that ...
• Dat mag zo zijn, maar ... — That may be so, but ...
• Moge het beste team winnen. — May the best team win.

In the final example, moge is a subjunctive form (a special form used here for a wish). It sounds formal, ceremonial, or deliberately elevated. Recognise it, but do not treat it as the normal present-tense form.

Practice Tips

1. Build permission pairs. Take an everyday action and say both versions: Je mag hier zitten / Je mag hier niet zitten. This fixes the important contrast between permission and prohibition.
2. Practise the end position. Start with Ik mag ... and add a time, place, and action: Ik mag morgen op kantoor werken. Say five such sentences aloud, keeping the infinitive at the end.
3. Rehearse useful questions. Learn Mag ik binnenkomen?, Mag ik u iets vragen?, and Waar mag ik ...? as complete chunks. Then replace only the final action or noun.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular Verbs in the Present Tense — provides the basic ideas of subjects, present-tense forms, and Dutch main-clause word order that mogen builds on.