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dürfen

be allowed to

verb DUER-fen Common

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.

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