IEC 62428:2008 deals with transformations from original quantities into modal quantities for the widely used three-phase a.c. systems in the field of electric power engineering. The examination of operating conditions and transient phenomena in three-phase a.c. systems becomes more difficult by the resistive, inductive or capacitive coupling between the phase elements and line conductors. Calculation and description of these phenomena in three-phase a.c. systems are easier if the quantities of the coupled phase elements and line conductors are transformed into modal quantities. The calculation becomes very easy if the transformation leads to decoupled modal systems. The original impedance and admittance matrices are transformed to modal impedance and admittance matrices. In the case of decoupling of the modal quantities, the modal impedance and admittance matrices become diagonal matrices.