{"id":6740,"date":"2021-02-11T08:27:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T08:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/?p=6740"},"modified":"2021-02-16T20:17:44","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T20:17:44","slug":"the-subjunctive-in-german-grammar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/the-subjunctive-in-german-grammar\/","title":{"rendered":"The subjunctive in German grammar"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>The subjunctive in German grammar<\/h1>\n<div class=\"\">\n<p>INDEX OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When is the subjunctive I used?<\/li>\n<li>How is the subjunctive I formed?<\/li>\n<li>Subjunctive I<\/li>\n<li>When do you use the subjunctive II?<\/li>\n<li>How is the subjunctive II formed?<\/li>\n<li>Subjunctive II (present) potential form<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>We use the subjunctive in German\u00a0<strong>for situations that are not real, but only possible, when we imagine or wish something<\/strong>\u00a0,\u00a0<strong>we<\/strong>\u00a0also find subjunctive in the main sentence of unreal conditional sentences or when we repeat a statement in an indirect speech.<\/p>\n<p>We will try to give you an explanation of the difference between subjunctive I and subjunctive II in formation and their use.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"uno\">When is the subjunctive I used?<\/h2>\n<p>We use the subjunctive I to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Er sagt, er habe sich noch nie so jung gef\u00fchlt.<br \/>\n(He says he has never felt so young.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"como\">How is the I subjunctive formed?<\/h2>\n<p>Only the verb sein is still used in all forms in the subjunctive I:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ich bin, du bist, er ist, wir sind, du bist, si sind<br \/>\nI am, you are, he is, we are, you are, they are<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sagte, sie waren im Kino<br \/>\nHe said they were at the movies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With all other verbs,\u00a0<strong>we generally just use the subj.\u00a0I in the third person singular<\/strong>\u00a0(he \/ she \/ is \/ man).\u00a0To do this, we just have to remove the n from the infinitive.\u00a0(Modal verbs are still common in the 1st and 3rd person singular).<\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>haben &#8211; er habe (to have &#8211; has)<\/li>\n<li>schreiben &#8211; er schreibe (write \u2013write)<\/li>\n<li>m\u00fcssen &#8211; ich m\u00fcsse, er m\u00fcsse (duty, must and must)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In the second person (you \/ she), the subjunctive I and the indicative are only differentiated by the e in the subjunctive I.<\/strong>\u00a0Therefore, we often prefer the subjunctive II, this makes it easier to distinguish the form of the indicative.<\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>du tr\u00e4umst &#8211; du tr\u00e4umest<br \/>\nyou dream &#8211; you dream<\/li>\n<li>ihr geht &#8211; ihr gehet<br \/>\nyou go &#8211; you go<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>For the 1st person singular (I) and the 1st \/ 3rd Person plural (we, they) it<\/strong>\u00a0does not differ from the indicative of the subjunctive I. Therefore, we have to use the subjunctive II for these people.<\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Sie gehen joggen&#8221; &#8211; Er sagt, sie gingen joggen.\u00a0(Konj. II)<br \/>\n&#8220;They go jogging&#8221; &#8211; He says they went jogging.\u00a0(Conj. II)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Example of German verb tenses in subjunctive I.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We can form the subjunctive in present, perfect and future.\u00a0In the following overview there is an example of verbs for each tense that form the perfect with have \/ be.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"subjuntivo\">Subjunctive I<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Pr\u00e4sens, er gehe, er sage.<br \/>\nPresent tense, he goes, he says.<\/li>\n<li>Perfekt er, sei gegangen, er habe gesagt<br \/>\nPerfect,\u00a0gone\u00a0, said<\/li>\n<li>Futur I, er werde gehen, er werde sagen.<br \/>\nFuture, he will go, say<\/li>\n<li>Futur II, er werde gegangen sein, er werde gesagt haben.<br \/>\nFuture II, would have gone, would have said<\/li>\n<li>Konjunktiv II<br \/>\nFuture (Konjunktiv II)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>We use the subjunctive when we speak of something that is currently not possible<\/strong>\u00a0.\u00a0We also use the subjunctive II in indirect speech or with particularly polite questions \/ statements.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"cuando\">When do you use the subjunctive II?<\/h2>\n<p>In German we use\u00a0<strong>subjunctive II for: (unreal) wishes and hopes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ich w\u00fcnschte, ich h\u00e4tte Ferien.<br \/>\nWish I was on vacation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Unreal statements \/ conditional sentences (see conditional sentence)<\/h4>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wenn ich im Urlaub w\u00e4re, l\u00e4ge ich den ganzen Tag am Strand.<br \/>\nIf I was on vacation I would be at the beach all day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Indirect speech, if the subjunctive I is not possible.<\/h4>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unser Lehrer sagt, wir m\u00fcssten noch viel lernen.<br \/>\nOur teacher says we still have a lot to learn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Particularly polite or cautious questions \/ statements<\/h4>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>W\u00e4rst du so freundlich, an die Tafel zu kommen?<br \/>\nWould you be so kind as to come to the meeting?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"forma\">How is the subjunctive II formed?<\/h2>\n<p>There are two forms of the subjunctive II, depending on whether it is a situation in the present or in the past.<\/p>\n<h3>For present situations<\/h3>\n<p><strong>For situations in the present<\/strong>\u00a0, we add the subjunctive ending to the root of the past tense (see the table below, find the column).\u00a0Strong verbs with a \/ o \/ u receive an umlaut.<\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>finden (fand) &#8211; er f\u00e4nde<br \/>\n(find (found) &#8211; he would find)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the following overview you will find the conjugation of sein \/ haben, as well as the ending of other verbs in the subjunctive II for the present.\u00a0Also, the form would is conjugated in the table, which we often use as a substitute for the subjunctive.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"potencial\">Subj.\u00a0II (present) potential form<\/h2>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"142\">1. Singular Person<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">ich f\u00e4nde<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">ich w\u00e4re<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">ich h\u00e4tte<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">ich w\u00fcrde\u2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"alt\">\n<td width=\"142\">2. Singular Person<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">du f\u00e4ndest<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">du w\u00e4r (e) st<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">du h\u00e4ttest<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">du w\u00fcrdest &#8230;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"142\">3. Singular Person<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">er f\u00e4nde<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">er w\u00e4re<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">er h\u00e4tte<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">er w\u00fcrde &#8230;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"alt\">\n<td width=\"142\">1. Person Plural<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">wir f\u00e4nden<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">wir w\u00e4ren<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">wir h\u00e4tten<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">wir w\u00fcrden\u2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"142\">2. Person Plural<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">ihr f\u00e4ndet<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">ihr w\u00e4r (e) t<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">ihr h\u00e4ttet<\/td>\n<td width=\"142\">ihr w\u00fcrdet &#8230;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Potential form instead of subj.\u00a0II<\/h2>\n<p>Weak verbs and some mixed verbs do not differ from the indicative past tense in the subjunctive II.\u00a0This is why we generally rewrite these verbs as we would.<\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>ich wartete &#8211; ich w\u00fcrde warten<br \/>\nI expected &#8211; I expected<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>For situations in the past<\/strong>\u00a0we use the subj.\u00a0II of sein \/ haben + past participle.<\/h4>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>ich w\u00e4re gegangen \/ ich h\u00e4tte gesagt<br \/>\nI would have gone \/ said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the following overview you will find an example of conjugation in the subjunctive II for the past tense for verbs that require sein or have.<\/p>\n<h3>Subjunctive II (past tense) gehen sagen (go say)<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"alt\">\n<td width=\"236\">1. Singular Person<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">ich w\u00e4re gegangen<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">ich h\u00e4tte gesagt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"236\">2. Singular Person<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">du w\u00e4r (e) st gegangen<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">du h\u00e4ttest gesagt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"alt\">\n<td width=\"236\">3. Singular Person<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">er w\u00e4re gegangen<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">er h\u00e4tte gesagt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"236\">1. Person Plural<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">wir w\u00e4ren gegangen<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">wir h\u00e4tten gesagt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"alt\">\n<td width=\"236\">2. Person Plural<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">ihr w\u00e4r (e) t gegangen<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">ihr h\u00e4ttet gesagt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"236\">3. Person Plural<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">sie w\u00e4ren gegangen<\/td>\n<td width=\"236\">sie h\u00e4tten gesagt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Do not forget!\u00a0These are all the\u00a0<strong>calls soon<\/strong>\u00a0available to obtain your official German qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-auto kksr-align-left kksr-valign-bottom\"\n    data-payload='{&quot;align&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;6740&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;default&quot;,&quot;valign&quot;:&quot;bottom&quot;,&quot;ignore&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;reference&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;count&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;legendonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;readonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;starsonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;best&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;gap&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;greet&quot;:&quot;\u00a1D\u00e9janos unas estrellitas si te ha gustado el post!&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;0\\\/5 - (0 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The subjunctive in German grammar&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;_legend&quot;:&quot;{score}\\\/{best} - ({count} {votes})&quot;,&quot;font_factor&quot;:&quot;1.25&quot;}'>\n            \n<div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 0px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n                \n\n<div class=\"kksr-legend\" style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\">\n            <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\u00a1D\u00e9janos unas estrellitas si te ha gustado el post!<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The subjunctive in German grammar INDEX OF CONTENTS When is the subjunctive I used? How is the subjunctive I formed?&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2637,"featured_media":6912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8080,8092,8093,8082,8064,8127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-level-a2-levels","category-level-b1-levels","category-level-b2-levels","category-learn-german","category-uncategorized","category-featured","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6913,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6740\/revisions\/6913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}