The Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) in German
- Use of "Konjunktiv II" It is used to express: desire, dreams, fantasies, imaginary situations Was würden Sie machen, wenn Sie Bundeskanzler von Deutschland wären? What would you do if you were the President of Germany? ...
- Original form of the Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) The original "Konjunktiv II" form is used for auxiliary verbs, for modal verbs and some irregular verbs. ...
- Würde + Infinitive ...
How do you use Konjunktiv II in German?
The Konjunktiv II You use it when using Konjunktiv I is ambiguous, meaning the verb would be the same as another form of the verb. It can also sometimes be used to express imaginary situations, dreams, suggestions, and recommendations. For example: Wenn ich gut Deutsch sprechen könnte, redete ich die ganze Zeit.
What is Konjunktiv used for?
The German Konjunktiv II is the verb form that we use for polite requests, wishes, suggestions, theories and hypothetical situations. We conjugate modal verbs in the Subjunctive II by adding the subjunctive endings to the simple past stem and adding an umlaut.
What is subjunctive II?
Subjunctive II is the form of subjunctive used in wishes and conditional sentences to signal whether a situation is hypothetical or not. Its most common usage is in “if . . . then” statements.
What is the difference between Indikativ and Konjunktiv?
The Indikativ/Indicative mood is the most common in both languages, used for describing reality: things that have actually happened, are happening or are expected to happen. The Konjunktiv I serves to distance the writer from indirect or reported speech: according to his spokesman, he knows nothing about the scandal.
How is Obwohl used?
Obwohl means though/ although. Obwohl er nichts hat, ist er glücklich. Trotzdem means still/ nonetheless. Eg: Er hat alles.
What is the difference between Konjunktiv 1 and 2?
Konjunktiv I is used for the 2nd and 3rd person singular and 2nd person plural, the Konjunktiv II for the 1st person singular and the 1st and 3rd person plural to avoid confusion. We can also use the Konjunktiv II to express a wish or desire, to make conditional sentences or to make special, polite phrases.
How do you use subjunctive in a sentence?
In the subjunctive mood, the verb remains in its bare form, rather than changing to reflect the tense. Here are two examples: Our teacher suggested that we finish our work early. If the shop were like other shops in town, it would take credit cards.
Is subjunctive the same as Konjunktiv?
The German subjunctive mood (der Konjunktiv) comes in two varieties: (1) Subjunctive I (present subjunctive) and (2) Subjunctive II (past subjunctive). Despite their nicknames, it is important to understand that the subjunctive (in English or German) is a verb mood, not a verb tense.
What are the four types of subjunctive?
The 4 subjunctive tenses that we will cover are the present subjunctive, the imperfect (past) subjunctive, the present perfect subjunctive, and the pluperfect subjunctive.
Why do we use Trennbare verben?
As we use trennbare verb in a sentence , the later part of the verb stays in the second position and is conjugated whereas the prefix goes to the end of the sentence....Trennbare Verben (Separable verbs)anrufento callanreisento travelabreisento leave/ to departannehmento acceptmitbringento bring along25 more rows•Mar 6, 2021
How do you use Plusquamperfekt?
It is used for actions that happened and are completed now in the present. For example: “Ich habe getanzt” -> Meaning: I danced at some point in the past. Now I am not dancing anymore. The “Plusquamperfekt” on the other hand is used to describe actions that happened before other actions in the past.
What is the difference between Setzen and Stellen?
stellen = meaning: to cause sth. to stand. setzen = meaning: to cause sth. to sit.
Why are Subjunctives needed?
The English subjunctive is a special, relatively rare verb form that expresses something desired or imagined. We use the subjunctive mainly when talking about events that are not certain to happen. For example, we use the subjunctive when talking about events that somebody: wants to happen.
Where is Werden used?
“Wurden” is the Präteritum (simple past) of the verb “werden”. This means that we use it when we would like to express that something became something or when we would like to express a passive sentence in the simple past tense in German.
How is Werden used?
The first and most common usage for werden is as an auxiliary verb, meaning “to become.” You can use this form of werden in the present and past tenses. Secondly, you'll encounter werden as a way to express sentences in the future tense.
Do Italians use Congiuntivo?
Congiuntivo in Italian is often used in a subordinate clause to talk about events that are not certain to happen, or when expressing hopes or a wish.
Original form of the Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II)
The original "Konjunktiv II" form is used for auxiliary verbs, for modal verbs and some irregular verbs. The reason is that for regular verbs the "Konjunktiv II" is the same as the "Präteritum", which is why the construction "würde" + infinitive is used to avoid confusion (this construction is sometimes called "Konjunktiv III").
Other Verb Tenses of Konjunktiv II
As we have seen, the Konjunktiv II is problematic in that it is not normally distinguishable from the Präteritum which is why the auxiliary verb werden is used to construct an alternative form (Würde + Infinitive). Indeed, the original Konjunktiv II form has another problem: It only expresses the present.
Subjunctive II in the present tense
The Subjunctive II has two different forms in the present tense – the original form and the replacement form.
2. Can Replacement form
For the replacement form of the Subjunctive II we need a conjugated form of ‘ werden ’ in its Subjunctive II form and in the infinitive, also ‘ würde’ + infinitive. And that’s all!
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) in the past tense
The building of Subjunctive II in the past tense functions almost like the normal perfect tense. Only the forms of ‘ haben’ and ‘ sein’ have to be converted into the Subjunctive.
Summary
Use Subjunctive II for contrary-to-fact statements: what you would do or would have done, but really aren’t doing/really didn’t do. It’s ideal for spineless, wishy washy, Pisces -type losers. Use it also for wishes and polite requests (more Pisces stuff…). Click here for more details and examples.
Practice Exercises
Konjunktiv oder Indikativ? Get a feel for the Subjunctive by deciding if these statements are subjunctive or not. Note: We had a bit of fun writing the detailed feedback for this exercise.
Uses of Subjunctive II: Contrary-to-fact Statements
Technically, the subjunctive is a “mood,” not a “tense”–odd terminology, but fun: sometimes you’re in the mood for the facts ==> you use the regular, indicative mood, other times you’re in the mood for what would be, for wishing, for “if only” statements ==> you use the subjunctive mood.
Wenn-statements
Generally, wenn-statements are counterfactual: “If X was the case, then Y would be the case” (but X is not the case) ==> generally, they require subjunctive:
Wishes
These fit in well with the above, since when you wish for something, what you’re wishing for isn’t a fact. Common ways to express wishes are:
Polite requests
As in English, Subjunctive II can be used to soften requests and make them more polite [=höflich ==> please learn this word, since you’ll hear it repeatedly while we cover subjunctive in class!]:
Present Subjunctive Forms
Present subjunctive can be formed in two ways: “würde + infinitive” or a one-word form based on the simple past form of the verb.
Introduction
We can use the subjunctive mood, Konjunktiv in German, to express unreal situations such as wishes, hypothetical situations and unreal conditional clauses, or to repeating what people say in indirect speech.
Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I)
Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) is generally used in newspaper articles and reports and when statements are repeated as indirect or reported speech. It is also used in some idiomatic expressions.
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II)
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) expresses imanginary, unrealistic or hypothetical situations. We can also use the it in indirect speech or for polite questions/statements.
Use of "Konjunktiv II"
Original Form of The Subjunctive II
- The original "Konjunktiv II" form is used for auxiliary verbs, for modal verbs and some irregular verbs. The reason is that for regular verbs the "Konjunktiv II" is the same as the "Präteritum", which is why the construction "würde" + infinitive is used to avoid confusion (this construction is sometimes called "Konjunktiv III").
Würde + Infinitive
- Given that the original form of the Konjunktiv II is the same as the Präteritum for most verbs, the "würde" + infinitiveconstruction is used often, which is called Konjuntiv III by some authors. NOTE 1: Würde + Infinitiveexpresses the present or future. NOTE 2: It is interesting that the Würde + Infinitive form is Futur Iwith the auxiliary verb werden conjugated in Konjuntiv II Wenn ich an dein…
Other Verb Tenses of Konjunktiv II
- As we have seen, the Konjunktiv II is problematic in that it is not normally distinguishable from the Präteritum which is why the auxiliary verb werdenis used to construct an alternative form (Würde + Infinitive). Indeed, the original Konjunktiv II form has another problem: It only expresses the present. The solution to this problem is to once again use an auxiliary verb.
There Are Two Ways to Build The Konjunktiv II
Some Verbs Don’T Build The Konjunktiv II with “Würden”
- When it comes to auxiliary (haben and sein) and modal verbs, we should use the first form. That means that in these cases we do not use “würde”. Please note that “wollen” and “sollen” do not want the Umlaut. •Ich hätte • Ich wäre • Ich möchte – ich könnte – ich dürfte – ich müsste – ich wollte – ich sollte There are also a few irregular verbs, whose Konjunktiv II is often built starting …
Konjunktiv II in The Past
- So far so good… now let’s move on the past form. There is nothing to be scared of, if you remember how to build the Perfekt. Instead of using the present form of the auxiliaries haben and sein, you just have to switch to their subjunctive form. For instance: Perfekt: Ich habe mein Zimmer aufgeräumt. – I tidied up my room. Konjunkitv II – past tense: Ich hätte mein Zimmer au…
Let’s Practice!
- Was würdest du machen, wenn du reich wärst? – What would you do if you were rich? Ich würde einen Urlaub auf den Malediven machen – I would go on vacation to the Maldives Ich würde ein Haus am Meer kaufen – I would buy a house by the see Und du? Was würdest du machen? – And you? What would you do? Try to list at least three things that you would do if you were rich. Was …
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