German Subjunctive II: The Conditional Mood (Konjunktiv II)

The conditional mood is used when something is not real, but conditional, imagined, desired or expressed politely. In German, this is called the Konjunktiv II.

How is the Konjunktiv II formed?

In theory, the Konjunktiv II is formed from the Präteritum, or simple past tense.

• Strong verbs: They receive an umlaut (a → ä, o → ö, u → ü) and an ending.
• Mixed verbs: They undergo a similar change and sometimes receive an umlaut.
• Weak verbs: Their Konjunktiv II form is identical to the Präteritum form.

Examples

• gehen → ging (Präteritum) → ginge
• kommen → kam → käme
• fliegen → flog → flöge
• wissen → wusste → wüsste
• machen → machte → machte — exactly the same as the past tense

The problem with weak verbs

With weak verbs such as machen, kaufen, lernen and arbeiten, the Konjunktiv II form is identical to the Präteritum form.

• machen → machte (past tense) = machte (conditional)
  • Er machte die Hausaufgaben. = He did his homework. (past)
  • Er machte die Hausaufgaben. = He would do his homework. (conditional)

This can be ambiguous. For this reason, weak verbs are almost always used with würde + infinitive:

• Er würde die Hausaufgaben machen. — He would do his homework.

Mixed verbs

Mixed verbs, such as bringen, wissen and denken, theoretically have their own Konjunktiv II forms:

• wissen → wusste → wüsste
• bringen → brachte → brächte

These forms can be understood and used. However, in spoken German, würde + infinitive is often used here as well:

• Ich wüsste die Antwort. — I would know the answer. (correct)
• Ich würde die Antwort wissen. — I would know the answer. (common in speech)

Strong verbs

With strong verbs, the Konjunktiv II form is clearly different from the Präteritum, so it is theoretically easy to recognise and use.

• gehen → ginge
• kommen → käme
• fliegen → flöge

Examples:

• Ich ginge ins Kino. — I would go to the cinema.
• Er käme gern mit. — He would be happy to come along.
• Wir flögen nach Wien. — We would fly to Vienna.

These forms are grammatically perfect, but in everyday speech, people often use würde + infinitive instead:

• Ich würde ins Kino gehen.
• Er würde gern mitkommen.

Theory and everyday usage

• According to the theory: every verb has its own Konjunktiv II form based on the Präteritum.
• In practice:
  • weak verbs almost always use würde + infinitive;
  • mixed verbs can use their own form, but würde + infinitive is also common;
  • strong verbs have clear forms such as ginge, käme and flöge, but the würde form is also frequent in spoken language.

If you know how to use würde + infinitive with every verb, people will always understand you in conversation. However, it is also worth learning the individual forms of strong and mixed verbs because they often appear in written German and language examinations.

Examples compared

gehen — strong verb

• Ich ginge nach Hause. — I would go home.
• Ich würde nach Hause gehen. — I would go home. (more common in speech)

wissen — mixed verb

• Ich wüsste die Antwort. — I would know the answer.
• Ich würde die Antwort wissen. — I would know the answer. (accepted and common in speech)

machen — weak verb

• Ich machte die Hausaufgaben. — Ambiguous: it could mean past or conditional.
• Ich würde die Hausaufgaben machen. — I would do my homework.

Summary

In theory, the German conditional mood, or Konjunktiv II, is formed from the Präteritum for every verb.

• Strong verbs produce clear forms such as ginge, käme and flöge.
• Mixed verbs also have recognisable forms such as wüsste and brächte, but these are often replaced by a construction with würde.
• With weak verbs, the Konjunktiv II and Präteritum forms are identical, so würde + infinitive is almost always the solution.

In everyday German, würde + infinitive is a universal and commonly used form that can be applied to every verb. Nevertheless, it is useful to know the individual forms of strong and mixed verbs because they frequently occur in written German and language examinations.

Practical steps

1. Use würde + infinitive when you are unsure which conditional form to choose.
2. Learn the common strong-verb forms ginge, käme and flöge.
3. Recognise mixed-verb forms such as wüsste and brächte.
4. Use würde + infinitive with weak verbs to avoid confusion with the Präteritum.
5. For written German and language examinations, practise both the individual Konjunktiv II forms and the würde construction.