Dürft

Dürft is a German modal verb. It is the past tense form of the verb dürfen, which translates to "to be allowed to" or "to have permission to." In modern German, dürfen is primarily used in its present tense form to express permission, prohibition, or a lack of prohibition. The past tense form, "dürft," is less common in everyday speech and is often replaced by constructions using the present tense or other modal verbs depending on the context.

When "dürft" is used, it indicates that permission or a lack thereof existed in the past. For example, "Er durft nicht kommen" means "He was not allowed to come." However, it's more idiomatic in contemporary German to say "Er durfte nicht kommen" or even "Es war ihm nicht erlaubt zu kommen." The verb dürfen conjugates in the past tense (Präteritum) as follows: ich durfte, du durftest, er/sie/es durfte, wir durften, ihr durftet, sie/Sie durften.

While "dürft" is technically the correct past tense, native speakers often opt for alternative phrasing to convey past permission or prohibition. This preference for alternative constructions can make encountering "dürft" in contemporary written or spoken German less frequent than its present tense counterpart. The subjunctive forms of dürfen also exist and are used for hypothetical situations or indirect speech, but "dürft" specifically refers to the indicative past tense.