Konjunktiv II - Was wäre wenn - Thomas Godoj

This week's German learning tip video is about the song "Was wäre wenn" by Thomas Godoj. In my video I talked about how it can teach you the basics of the simple past (preterite/Imperfekt) and of the conditional. You can see the video below, but this blog post is about the conditional or the subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) form.

If you want the slides that were used in this video, you are in luck. Here they are.

Here we see the simple past of "sein" (to be) in German and its conjugation.

Here is an example of the usage of "wollen" (to want) in the simple past in German.

Here we see an example of "kennen" (to know) in German in the simple past tense.

This is how you conjugate "kennen" (to know) & "wollen" (to want) in German in the simple past tense.

Here we see "kommen" (to come) and "scheinen" (to seem) in sentences in German in the past tense.

This is how you conjugate "kommen" (to come) and "scheinen" (to seem) in the simple past tense in German.

Here we see an example of both "wollen" (to want) and "sollen" (should) in the simple past in German.

Here is an example of "sein" (to be) in the subjunctive mood (Konjunktiv II) in German.

This shows you the difference between the Perfekt (present perfect) & Konjunktiv II (subjunctive) in German.

Here is an example of how to use "haben" (to have) in the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive) in German in the past tense.

This shows the present tense formation of the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive)

This shows the difference between the present tense Konjunktiv II and the past tense Konjunktive II (subjunctive)

If you just started learning German, close this tab now. You are about to see a part of the rabbit hole that you are not supposed to see for a long time. If you think you can handle this topic, enjoy the image of the bunnies below, because that will be the most pleasant thing about this post.

Let's get the usage out of the way first. The subjunctive or the Konjunktiv II is used with things that are contrary to reality or it can also be used to express a politeness. This is the reason you say "Ich möchte eine Currywurst." instead of "Ich will eine Currywurst." or "Ich hätte gerne eine Currywurst." instead of "Geben Sie mir eine Currywurst." In this post, I'll be focusing on when it is used for situations that are contrary to reality.

What you have more than likely learned up until this point in your German learning is the indicative mood and all of its tenses. You have probably also learned the command form or the imperative, which is technically another mood. While tenses indicate when something happened, moods indicate the manner in which it was done. The difference between the indicative and the subjunctive (as I am going to use it in this post) is simple. If it really happened, really is happening, or really will happen, it is the indicative mood and is more than likely what you have already learned. This can happen in 6 tenses. For example:

Ich esse Kekse. - I am eating cookies. (present tense)

Ich habe Kekse gegessen. - I ate cookies. (present perfect tense, spoken past tense)

Ich aß Kekse. - I ate cookies. (simple past tense, written past tense)

Ich hatte Kekse gegessen. - I had eaten cookies. (past perfect)

Ich werde Kekse essen. - I will eat cookies. (future tense)

Ich werde Kekse gegessen haben. - I will have eaten cookies. (future perfect tense)

The subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) is used with things that aren't happening, didn't happen, or might not happen. Here are a few examples:

Wenn ich Hunger hätte, würde Kekse essen. - If I had hunger, I would eat cookies. (present tense or future tense)

Wenn ich Hunger gehabt hätte, hätte ich Kekse gegessen. - If I had had hunger, I would have eaten cookies. (past tense)

Now down to the real point of the matter. Every single verb in the German language has a Konjunktiv II version. I rarely ever use any of them other than the forms of "sein", "haben" and the modal auxiliaries. The rest of the time, I either use "würde" and the infinitive of the verb I need or "wäre" or "hätte" and the past participle of the verb I need. "Sein" and "haben" are popular for obvious reasons. Here are examples of how to use "haben" in the Konjunktiv II in sentences so you can see the conjugation and sort of figure out the pattern for translating from English to German and vice versa.

Ich hätte gerne Kekse. - I would like to have cookies.

Hättest du gerne Kekse? - Would you like to have cookies?

Er hätte gerne Kekse. - He would like to have cookies.

Wir hätten gerne Kekse. - We would like to have cookies.

Hättet ihr gerne Kekse? - Would you like to have cookies?

Die Kinder hätten gerne Kekse. - The children would like to have cookies.

As you can tell, the conjugation of "haben" in the Konjunktiv II is simply the past tense form "hatte" with an umlaut and endings for the conjugation for all of the forms. The forms of "sein" do something similar. We start with the simple past form of "sein", which is "war". We then add an umlaut and an -e to the end of it. The result looks like the following sentences. ​

​Wenn ich ein Keks wäre... - If I were a cookie...

Wenn du ein Keks wärst/wärest... - If you were a cookie...

Wenn er ein Keks wäre... - If he were a cookie...

Wenn wir Kekse wären... - If we were cookies...

Wenn ihr Kekse wärt/wäret... - If you were cookies...

Wenn sie Kekse wären... - If they were cookies...

(Side note: While Duden says both "wärst" and "wärest" as well as "wärt" and "wäret" are technically acceptable, I personally perfer "wärest" and "wäret" for the "du" and "ihr" forms.)

These two forms are only used if there is not another verb involved. If there is another verb involved, as mentioned, you could simply use the actual Konjunktiv II form of that verb, however, most people wouldn't. If you want an example of that anyway, I have written a few below.

Ich äße Kekse. - I would eat cookies.

Wenn er Fußball spielte... - If he would play soccer...

Wenn wir im Mondlicht tanzten... - If we would dance in the moonlight...

As you can see from the last two examples, a lot of the time the simple past and the Konjunktiv II is going to be the exact same thing. This is the main reason that a lot of people go with the "würde" and infinitive construction. Here are a few examples of that.

Ich würde Kekse essen. - I would eat cookies.

Wenn er Fußball spielen würde... - If he would play soccer...

Wenn wir im Mondlicht tanzen würden... - If we would dance in the moonlight...

Würden wir wirklich wissen, was es heißt zu leben? - Would we really know what it means to live?

The conjugation for the rest of the forms of "werden" in Konjunktiv II are as follows:

ich würde

du würdest

er, sie, es würde

wir würden

ihr würdet

sie, Sie würden

You simply use this as you would when "werden" is used to make the future tense, in that you push your other verb to the end of the clause or sentence in the infinitive form. You may have noticed that a few of my examples before used the conjunction "wenn". This conjunction requires the use of some funky word order. It shoves the conjugated verb to the end of the clause. When this is done in the first clause, the conjugated verbs form a verb cluster on either side of the comma.

Wenn ich einen Hund kaufen würde, würde ich auch eine Hundehütte kaufen. - If I would buy a dog, I would also buy a dog kennel.

If you use "wenn" in the second clause, you simply push the conjugated verb to the end of that clause. The first clause is uneffected.

Ich würde eine Hundehütte kaufen, wenn ich einen Hund kaufen würde. - I would buy a dog kennel, if I would buy a dog.

All of the examples used so far have been in the present tense. This same construction is used to imply the future tense in the same way that "I wouldn't do that" is both present and future in English. If you want to talk about something in the past tense using the Konjunktiv II, you can do that, as well. Start by making the sentence in the present perfect tense.

Ich habe einen Hund gekauft. - I bought a dog.

Ich bin ins Kino gegangen. I went to the movies.

Then change your form of "haben" or "sein" to the Konjunktiv II form.

Ich hätte einen Hund gekauft. - I would have bought a dog.

Ich wäre ins Kino gegangen. - I would have gone to the movies.

One could also argue that you use the past perfect form of the sentences and add an umlaut (and perhaps an -e).

Ich hatte einen Hund gekauft. - I had bought a dog.

Ich hätte einen Hund gekauft. - I would have bought a dog.

Ich war ins Kino gegangen. - I had gone to the movies.

Ich wäre ins Kino gegangen. - I would have gone to the movies.

Now let's put this all together and see what we can do in various tenses with the indicative mood and the Konjunktiv II. To keep things simple (devious smile) I will use only the "ich" form.

Ich kaufe einen Hund. - I am buying a dog. (present indicative)

Ich kaufte einen Hund. - I would buy a dog. (present/future subjunctive)

Ich werde einen Hund kaufen. - I will buy a dog. (future indicative)

Ich werde einen Hund gekauft haben. - I will have bought a dog. (future perfect indicative)

Ich würde einen Hund kaufen. - I would buy a dog. (present/future subjunctive)

Ich kaufte einen Hund. - I bought a dog. (simple past indicative)

Ich habe einen Hund gekauft. - I bought a dog. (present perfect indicative)

Ich hatte einen Hund gekauft. - I had bought a dog. (pluperfect indicative)

Ich hätte einen Hund gekauft. - I would have bought a dog. (past subjunctive)

Ich gehe zur Schule. - I am going to school. (present indicative)

Ich ginge zur Schule. - I would go to school. (present/future subjunctive)

Ich werde zur Schule gehen. - I will go to school. (future indicative)

Ich werde zur Schule gegangen sein. - I will have gone to school. (future perfect indicative)

Ich würde zur Schule gehen. - I would go to school. (present/future subjunctive)

Ich ging zur Schule. - I went to school. (simple past indicative)

Ich bin zur Schule gegangen. - I went to school. (present perfect indicative)

Ich war zur Schule gegangen. - I have gone to school. (pluperfect indicative)

Ich wäre zur Schule gegangen. - I would have gone to school. (past subjunctive)

Ich bin ein Mann. - I am a man. (present indicative)

Wenn ich ein Mann wäre... - If I were a man... (present/future subjunctive)

Ich werde ein Mann sein. - I will be a man. (future indicative)

Ich werde ein Mann gewesen sein. - I will have been a man. (future perfect indicative)

Ich war ein Mann. - I was a man. (simple past indicative)

Ich bin ein Mann gewesen. - I was a man. (present poerfect indicative)

Ich war ein Mann gewesen. - I had been a man. (pluperfect indicative)

Wenn ich ein Mann gewesen wäre... If I had been a man... (past subjunctive)

Ich habe einen Hund. - I have a dog. (present indicative)

Ich hätte einen Hund. - I would have a dog. (present/future subjunctive)

Ich werde einen Hund haben. - I will have a dog. (future indicative)

Ich werde einen Hund gehabt haben. - I will have bought a dog. (future perfect indicative)

Ich hatte einen Hund. - I had a dog. (simple past indicative)

Ich habe einen Hund gehabt. - I had a dog. (present perfect indicative)

Ich hatte einen Hund gehabt. - I had had a dog. (pluperfect indicative)

Ich hätte einen Hund gehabt. - I would have had a dog. (past subjunctive)

You can also use the modal auxiliaries in the Konjunktiv II, but you probably have seen them like this before. I'm sure you know that "möchte" is one of the forms of "mögen". The modals usually add an umlaut in the Konjunktiv II with the exception of "sollen" and "wollen". Rather than give examples of each one, I think I'll just conjugate these out in German and English.

dürfen - may, to be allowed to

ich dürfte - I would be allowed

du dürftest - you would be allowed

er, sie, es dürfte - he, she, it would be allowed

wir dürften - we would be allowed

ihr dürftet - you would be allowed

sie, Sie dürften - they, you would be allowed

können - can, to be able to

ich könnte - I could

du könntest - you could

er, sie, es könnte - he, she, it could

wir könnten - we could

ihr könntet - you could

sie, Sie könnten - they, you could

müssen - must, to have to

ich müsste - I had to

du müsstest - you had to

er, sie, es müsste - he, she, it had to

wir müssten - we had to

ihr müsstet - you had to

sie, Sie müssten - they, you had to

sollen - should, to be supposed to

ich sollte - I should

du solltest - you should

er, sie, es sollte - he, she, it should

wir sollten - we should

ihr solltet - you should

sie, Sie sollten - they, you should

wollen - to want

ich wollte - I wanted

du wolltest - you wanted

er, sie, es wollte - he, she, it wanted

wir wollten - we wanted

ihr wolltet - you wanted

sie, Sie wollten - they, you wanted

If you use one of these modal auxiliaries, you put the infinitive of the other verb used at the end of the sentence, just like you did in the indicative mood. You may have noticed that some of the forms are exactly the same as they are in the simple past tense. This may seem like it might cause confusion at some point, but really the translation difference is pretty minuscule. Most of the time, it is pretty clear what is meant or it really just doesn't matter.

Now, I'm sure that you have plenty of questions about this, because it is one of the more complicated topics of the German language (or any language for that matter). If you have questions, you can simply ask them in the comments below this blog post or under the comments section of the YouTube video linked above.

What's next?

Next Wednesday, I will be covering the top 21-30 most used verbs in German. In the video I will conjugate them in the present tense. In the blog I will give examples of how to use them and extra information about each verb as needed.

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