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Subjunctive mood / Konjunktiv

Present subjunctive / Konjunktiv I

Konjunktiv I is generally used with indirect speech, after verbs such as "sagen" or "behaupten". So the sentence "Ich habe eine Katze" would be reported as "Er sagte, er habe eine Katze". It is possible to use the standard indicative present tense, "er hat", but this can seem quite colloquial. To form KI, take the infinitive of the verb, remove the -en, and add the following endings.

Imperfect subjunctive / Konjunktiv II

Konjunktiv II can be used in indirect speech, when the relevant form of KI would not be distinguishable from the standard tense of the verb. So, for example, the sentence "Ich habe eine Katze" would be reported as "Ich sagte, ich hätte eine Katze". It is possible to use the standard indicative present tense, "ich habe", but this can seem quite colloquial. It is not possible to use the relevant form of Konjunktiv I, as it is the same form as the standard present tense.

KII can also be used as an alternative to the conditional tense. Common forms are hätte (haben), wäre (sein), möchte (mögen), and the other modal verbs. KII is rarely used except in these cases.

To form KII, take the imperfect stem of the verb. If the verb is irregular, add an umlaut (if possible) to the final vowel. Then add the endings as follows.

Notes:

• The du and ihr forms of these verbs are rare.
• Be careful not to cause any possible confusion, for example, between führen (KII of fahren) and führen (present tense verb meaning to lead).
• Use these forms of the verb with caution - KI and KII can have a comical effect in speech if overused, apart from the KII forms of haben, sein and the modal verbs.
• Some verbs have irregular KII forms, for example stürbe, stünde, hülfe - but these are extremely rare and generally should not be used.