German Verbs: How to Recognize the German Subjunctive I, II

Improve your understanding of this verb tense

How do you recognize the subjunctive tenses of German verbs? The Konjunktiv
I is usually formed by adding an e-ending to the infinitive stem of a verb (-en in
the plural), rather than the normal (indicative) t-ending. This form of the verb is
also known as the "indirect quotation" form. It is used to indicate what someone
has said, without any claim that it is true or not. One exception to the rule
is sein, which has Subjunctive I forms sei and seien (pl.) in the third person.

Subjunctive I Examples:

haben to have (infinitive)

er hat he has (3rd person indicative)
er habe (he says) he has (Subjunctive I, quotative)

gehen to go (infinitive)
er geht he goes (3rd person indicative)
er gehe (he says) he has (Subjunctive I, quotative)

sein to be (infinitive)
sie ist she is (3rd person indicative)
sie sei (she says) she is (Subjunctive I, quotative)

arbeiten to work (infinitive)

er arbeitet he works (3rd person indicative)
er arbeite (he says) he works (Subjunctive I, quotative)

können to be able, can (infinitive)

er kann he can (3rd person indicative)
er könne (he says) he can/could (Subjunctive I, quotative)

By its "quotative" nature, the Subjunctive I forms are usually seen in the third
person: er komme, sie sei, der Mann lebe, and so forth. Because the third-
person plural Subjunctive I forms are usually identical to the indicative forms,
the Subjunctive II forms may be used instead. ("Die Leute sagten,
sie hätten kein Geld." = "The people said they have no money.")

In the chart below, you can see an example of how the Subjunctive I forms of
the verb gehen only differ from the indicative present tense in the third person
singular and the du/ihr familiar forms (rarely used):
Subjunctive I of gehen (to go)

ich du* er/sie/es wir ihr* sie/Sie

gehe gehest gehe gehen gehet gehen

Present Indicative of gehen (to go

ich du er/sie/es wir ihr sie/Sie

gehe gehst geht gehen geht gehen

*Although different from the indicative, the Subjunctive I forms

of du and ihr are rarely seen or used.

Unlike most German verbs, the highly irregular verb sein (to be) has a distinct
Subjunctive I form that differs from the present tense indicative in all persons.
But, as with most other verbs in the Subjunctive I, the "present subjunctive"
of sein is rarely seen in the non-third-person forms. The same is true of the
German modal verbs (dürfen, müssen, können, etc.) and wissen (to know) in the
Subjunctive I.

Subjunctive I of sein (to be)

ich du er/sie/es wir ihr sie/Sie

sei seist sei seien seiet seien

Present Indicative of sein (to be)

ich du er/sie/es wir ihr sie/Sie

bin bist ist sind seid sind

Although they are different from the indicative, the non-third-person

Subjunctive I forms of seinare rarely seen or used.

As the above charts make evident, students of German can concentrate on

recognizing the third person forms of the Subjunctive I (aka "the quotative"). It
makes no sense to study all the subjunctive forms that are never or rarely used.
For all practical purposes, you only need to learn to spot the quotative forms
when you see er, sie or es used with a verb that ends in e. To learn more about
what the quotative forms mean, see Subjunctive I - Part One.

Other Tenses

The Subjunctive I is a verb mood, not a tense. The subjunctive can be used in
any tense, present, past, or future. To form the various tenses in the subjunctive,
the verbs haben, sein, and werden (in their subjunctive forms) are used to form a
compound tense. Here are a few examples:

Er sagte, er schreibe den Brief.

He said he's writing the letter. (present tense)
Er sagte, er habe den Brief geschrieben.
He said he wrote the letter. (past tense)
Er sagte, er werde den Brief schreiben.
He said he will write the letter. (future tense)

Sie sagte, sie fahre nach Hong Kong.

She said she's traveling to Hong Kong. (present tense)
Sie sagte, sie sei nach Hong Kong gefahren.
She said she traveled to Hong Kong. (past tense)

How Do You Form the Subjunctive II?

The Konjunktiv II is usually formed by adding an Umlaut ( ¨ ) to the vowel (a,

o, or u ONLY) in the imperfect (simple past, preterite) form of the verb... and
adding an -e (if there isn't one already; -en in the plural). Exception: The
modals sollen and wollen do NOT add an umlaut in the subjunctive.

Four Examples:
haben to have (infinitive)
hatte had (imperfect, simple past)
hätte would have/had (Subjunctive II)

mögen to like (infinitive)

mochte liked (imperfect, simple past)
möchte would like (Subjunctive II)

gehen to go (infinitive)
ging went (imperfect, simple past)
ginge would go/gone (Subjunctive II)

sein to be (infinitive)
war was (imperfect, simple past)
wäre would be/were (Subjunctive II)

The most commonly used subjunctive forms are those for haben and sein and
the modal verbs (e.g., möchte, könnte). For most other verbs,
the würde (would) + infinitive combination (subjunctive substitution) is used.
Although technically every German verb has a subjunctive form, in practice
the würde-subjunctive substitution is used for most verbs other than those
named above. For example, instead of ginge (would go), more often one
hears würde gehen (would go). This is particularly true for plural forms in
which the subjunctive and the imperfect forms are identical: wir gingen(we
went - imperfect, past) and wir gingen (we would have gone - subjunctive).

Example:
Wenn das Wetter schön wäre, gingen wir zum Strand. (Subjunctive II)
Wenn das Wetter schön wäre, würden wir zum Strand gehen. (würden +
infin.)
If the weather were nice, we'd go to the beach.

This has the practical result that most learners need only learn the subjunctive
forms of haben, sein and the modal verbs. For most other verbs they can just
use the würde + infinitive construction. NOTE: The würde construction is
NEVER used for haben, sein, or the modal verbs.

Subjunctive II of haben, sein,the modals, and werden

ich/er du wir/sie ihr

hätte hättest hätten hättet
wäre wärest wären wäret
dürfte dürftest dürften dürftet
könnte könntest könnten könntet
müßte müßtest müßten müßtet
sollte solltest sollten solltet
wollte wolltest wollten wolltet
würde würdest würden würdet

Other Tenses

The Subjunctive II is a verb mood, not a tense. The subjunctive can be used in
any tense, present, past, or future. To form the various tenses in the subjunctive,
the verbs haben, sein, and werden (in their subjunctive forms) are used to form a
compound tense. Here are a few examples:

Hättest du Lust, mit uns zu gehen?

Do you feel like going with us? (present tense)
Ich wäre gern mit euch gegangen.
I would have liked to go with you guys. (past tense)
Wenn sie kein Geld gehabt hätte, wäre sie nicht nach Asien gefahren.
If she had not had the money, she wouldn't have gone to Asia. (past)
How to Use the Conditional Tense in German

The conditional tense in German is established through the subjunctive II (past).

But that is not the only way. As important as it is to learn the subjunctive II for
such purposes, there are sometimes other ways to form a conditional statement,
depending on your intent. The following is a listing of a few examples.

Introducing a Condition with the Preposition Bei

Bei schönem Wetter, gehen wir schwimmen.

(When the weather is nice, we’ll go swimming.)
Remember that the preposition bei is always followed by the dative. If you
would use the subjunctive, the sentence would read as follows:

Wenn es schönes Wetter sein sollte, dann gehen wir schwimmen.

Using Wenn

Use wenn plus the present tense if the condition is possible.

Wenn du müde bist, leg dich hin.

(If you are tired, lie down.)

Wenn du Hunger hast, nimm dir ein Stück Kuchen.

(If you are hungry, you can have a piece of cake.)

Use wenn plus the subjunctive II if the sentence indicates a hypothesis not
realized.

Wenn ich jung wäre, würde ich mir diese Schuhe kaufen.
If I were young, then I would buy these shoes.

Wenn wir reich wären, würden wir auf eine Weltreise gehen.
(If we were rich, we would go on a world trip.)

Use wenn plus the subjunctive II if the sentence indicates a hypothesis that
was not realized in the past.

Wenn er studiert hätte, würde er gute Noten bekommen haben.

(If he had studied, he would have gotten good marks.)

Wenn er seine Medizin genommen hätte, würde er jetzt gesund sein.

(If he had taken his medicine, he would be healthy now.)
Using Falls/im Falle

When something is possible.

Falls du zum Museum hingehst, vergiss nicht dein Mitgliedsausweis.

(In case you go to the museum, don’t forget your membership card.)

Im Falle, dass wir spät sind, will ich mir eine Ausrede denken.
(In case that we are late, I want to think of an excuse.)

Using Es Sei Denn, Dass (Unless)/Vorausgesetzt, Dass

Geh nicht im Keller, es sei denn, dass du vorher gefragst hast.

(Don’t go in the basement, unless you’ve asked beforehand.)

Guck nicht im Schrank, es sei denn du willst wissen was du für deinen
Geburtstag bekommen wirst.
(Don’t look in the closet, unless you want to find out what you will be getting
for your birthday.)

Ich komme mit, vorausgesetzt, dass deine Eltern einverstanden sind.

(I'm coming, only unless your parents agree.)

Adverbs Sonst (Else) or Andernfalls (Otherwise)

These adverbs make reference to the past that would have influenced the past,
that the situation occurred.

Ich bin froh, dass du mitgekommen bist, sonst hätte ich mich sehr gelangweilt
haben.
(I am happy that you came along, or else I would have been so bored.)

Gute Sache, dass er die Suppe nicht gegessen hat, andernfalls würde er auch
krank gewesen sein.
(Good thing, he didn’t eat the soup, otherwise he’d be sick too.)