{"id":9756,"date":"2018-06-28T18:17:59","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T18:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=9756"},"modified":"2018-06-28T21:22:57","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T21:22:57","slug":"the-german-subjunctive-lets-talk-konjunktiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-german-subjunctive-lets-talk-konjunktiv\/","title":{"rendered":"The German Subjunctive – Let’s Talk Konjunktiv!"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this blog, we have explained before how to use tenses in German<\/a>. But we have not yet looked at a rather peculiar tense in German yet: the\u00a0Konjunktiv\u00a0<\/em>(subjunctive mood)! It comes in two parts,\u00a0Konjunktiv I\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Konjunktiv II<\/em>. Today, we look at number\u00a0I<\/em>! Let’s go!<\/p>\n

What is the\u00a0Konjunktiv<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"

Er steht<\/em> (he stands). Image by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

Konjunktiv <\/em>(subjunctive mood)\u00a0is a word that comes from the latin\u00a0coniungere<\/em>, which means “to connect”. It is one of the three modes of a verb, next to the indicative (Indikativ<\/em>) and the imperative (Imperativ<\/em>). The subjunctive mood often tells you about possibilities. So it is about\u00a0M\u00f6glichkeiten\u00a0<\/em>(possibilities), which is why it is also sometimes referred to as\u00a0the\u00a0M\u00f6glichkeitsform\u00a0<\/em>(possibility form).<\/p>\n

We will use the verb\u00a0stehen\u00a0<\/em>(to stand) as our example here. The regular,\u00a0Indikativ<\/em>\u00a0pr\u00e4sens\u00a0<\/em>(present tense)\u00a0looks like this:<\/p>\n

ich stehe\u00a0<\/em>(I stand)<\/p>\n

du stehst\u00a0<\/em>(you stand, sing.)<\/p>\n

er\/sie\/es steht\u00a0<\/em>(he\/she\/it stands)<\/p>\n

ihr steht\u00a0<\/em>(you stand, pl.)<\/p>\n

wir stehen\u00a0<\/em>(we stand)<\/p>\n

sie stehen\u00a0<\/em>(they stand)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When converting that to a\u00a0Konjunktiv I pr\u00e4sens\u00a0<\/em>(present), it looks like this:<\/p>\n

Ich stehe\u00a0<\/em>(I would stand)<\/p>\n

du stehest\u00a0<\/em>(you would stand, sing.)<\/p>\n

er\/sie\/es stehe\u00a0<\/em>(he\/she\/it would stand)<\/p>\n

wir stehen\u00a0<\/em>(we would stand)<\/p>\n

ihr stehet\u00a0<\/em>(you would stand, pl.)<\/p>\n

sie stehen\u00a0<\/em>(they would stand).<\/p>\n

As you may notice, many of these forms are the same as in the\u00a0Indikativ pr\u00e4sens,\u00a0<\/em>but it has some weird ones too, like ihr stehet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Konjunktiv I\u00a0<\/em>also has a\u00a0past tense and future tense.<\/p>\n

Alright, but when do you use this now?<\/p>\n

The Konjunktiv I<\/em> is mainly used in the\u00a0Indirekte Rede<\/em> (indirect speech).<\/p>\n

Indirekte Rede<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
\"\"

Image by Cristina Gottardi at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0Indirekte Rede\u00a0<\/em>can be explained as follows:<\/p>\n

“Ich stehe im Garten” (I stand in the garden)\u00a0 – this is\u00a0direkte Rede\u00a0<\/em>(direct speech). It is the normal,\u00a0Indikativ pr\u00e4sens<\/em> – no Konjunktiv<\/em> necessary here!<\/p>\n

Max sagt, er stehe im Garten<\/em> (Max says, he stands in the garden) – this is\u00a0indirekte Rede<\/em>! Because it is what someone else said, and is also in the present, you use the Konjunktiv pr\u00e4sens\u00a0<\/em>here.<\/p>\n

You will mostly hear the use of the\u00a0Konjunktiv<\/em> in this way in the\u00a0Nachrichten\u00a0<\/em>(News). In normal conversations, you would rather hear this:<\/p>\n

Max sagt, dass er im Garten steht<\/em> (Max says that he stands in the garden).<\/p>\n

While that isn’t technically grammatically correct, it is not wrong either. And it makes things a lot easier, because you can avoid the Konjunktiv<\/em>, which is different for each word, and not always very predictable!<\/p>\n

So a great advantage of the Konjunktiv<\/em> is that you can easily disseminate hearsay and\u00a0Behauptungen\u00a0<\/em>(claims). Take the\u00a0Nachrichten<\/em>, for example, where most\u00a0Informationen\u00a0<\/em>(information) is provided by third parties:<\/p>\n