Also means
may
Usage Note
dürfen is the modal of permission; its negative nicht dürfen means 'must not / may not', a false friend with English 'don't have to'. The polite subjunctive dürfte softens a statement into 'might / probably', as in das dürfte stimmen.
Examples
"Hier darf man nicht rauchen."
Natural Translation
You're not allowed to smoke here.
Literal Translation
Here may one not smoke.

Free starter pack
Building your German vocabulary?
Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.
Related Words
Explore German by topic
GermanNow
6 min read