Konjunktiv II - Zusammenfassung
Present Subjunctive II: What you would do.
Past Subjunctive II: What you would have done.
Präsens: Zwei Möglichkeiten: "würde + infinitive" OR the "one-word form"
gehen ==>
ich würde gehen ["würde + infinitive"] OR ich ginge ["one-word form"]
Both mean "I would go"
lachen ==> ich würde lachen ["würde + infinitive"] OR ich lachte ["one-word form"]
Both mean "I would laugh"
Vergangenheit: Nur eine Möglichkeit: hätte/wäre + past participle
"haben"-verbs ==> hätte + past participle
 ich hätte gelacht (I would have laughed); sie hätte gesungen (she would have
sung); du hättest das Auto repariert (you would have repaired the car)
"sein"-verbs ==> wäre + past participle
 ich wäre gegangen (I would have gone); er wäre gestorben (he would have died);
die Bombe wäre explodiert (the bomb would have exploded)
Modal verbs and Subjunctive II
Präsens: Use the one-word form only (more on this below)
INFINITIV
können
sollen
KONJUNKTIV
könnte mehr arbeiten
sollte mehr arbeiten
müssen
müsste mehr arbeiten
ENGLISCH
could work more
should/ought to work more
really should work more
OR
would have to work more
Vergangenheit:Use a double infinitive construction, i.e. the infinitive of the main verb
("arbeiten," in the examples below) plus the infinitive of the modal verb. In the examples
below, the two infinitives are highlighted in bold.
INFINITIV
können
sollen
KONJUNKTIV
hätte mehr arbeiten können
hätte mehr arbeiten sollen
müssen
hätte mehr arbeiten müssen
ENGLISCH
could have worked more
should have worked more
really should have worked more
OR
would have had to work more
Note that with the double infinitive constructions, the auxiliary verb is ALWAYS hätte,
never wäre:
 Du hättest mit mir gehen sollen (You should have gone with me)
 Ich hätte das nicht tun dürfen (I really shouldn't have done that)
 Wir hätten sterben können! (We could have died!)
Use the one-word form (NOT würde + infinitive) for the Present Subjunctive II of
the following verbs:
 haben & sein
 wissen
 the modal verbs: können, dürfen, mögen, müssen, wollen & sollen
Note how these forms evolve from the Präteritum (the "one-word-past-tense") forms of
these verbs:
Infinitiv
Präteritum
Konjunktiv II
haben
hatte
hätte
sein
war
wäre
wissen
wusste
wüsste
können
konnte
könnte
dürfen
durfte
dürfte
mögen
mochte
möchte
müssen
musste
müsste
wollen
wollte
wollte
sollen
sollte
sollte
You'll note that the Present Subjunctive II of wollen and of sollen does not have an
Umlaut. To help you remember this, note that the Present Subjunctive II of the modal
verbs has an Umlaut whenever the infinitive has an Umlaut.
 This means that the Konjunktiv II forms of the modal verbs wollen and sollen are
identical to their Präteritum forms. You'll usually be able to tell from the context
whether past or subjunctive is intended.
Tip: Think of können as "to be able to" rather than "can." This will make it much easier
for you to discern whether the past tense (konnte) or Present Subjunctive II (könnte)
should be used for the English word "could," which can mean either "was able to" or
"would be able to." This is one more example of how German is often much clearer and
easier than English!
Ex: Ich konnte das nie machen. I was never able to do that. (I could never do that.)
vs.
Ich könnte das nie machen. I would never be able to do that. (I could never do that.)
More on the meanings of the modal verbs in Subjunctive II
The English equivalents of the Present and Past Subjunctive II forms of the modal verbs
are not always obvious. Here is a complete table. Where the negations have "surprising"
meanings, they are also included below.
Ich könnte lachen
Ich sollte lachen
Ich müsste lachen
Ich müsste nicht lachen
Ich dürfte lachen
Ich wollte lachen
Ich möchte lachen
Ich hätte lachen können
Ich hätte lachen sollen
Ich hätte lachen müssen
Ich hätte nicht lachen müssen
Ich hätte lachen dürfen
Ich hätte nicht lachen dürfen
Ich hätte lachen wollen
Ich hätte lachen mögen [quite rarely used]
I could laugh
I should laugh
I would have to laugh OR
I really should laugh
I would not have to laugh
I would be allowed to laugh
I would want to laugh
I would like to laugh
I could have laughed
I should have laughed
I would have had to laugh OR
I really should have laughed
I would not have had to laugh
I would have been allowed to laugh
I really shouldn't have laughed OR
I would not have been allowed to laugh
I would have wanted to laugh
I would have liked to laugh
Uses of Subjunctive II
Hypothetical statements (often but not necessarily involving "wenn"):
 Was würdest du tun, wenn das passiert? (What would you do if that happens?)
 Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich ein Gedicht schreiben. (If I had time, I would
write a poem.)
 Was hättest du getan? (What would you have done?)
Wishes:
 Wenn ich das nur wüsste! (If only I knew that!)
 Wenn ich das nur gewusst hätte! (If only I had known that!)
 Ich wünschte, ich hätte dich nie kennen gelernt! (I wish I'd never met you!)
 Ich wünschte, du würdest im Verkehr spielen! (I wish you would play in traffic!)
To make polite requests or suggestions:
 Könntest du mir bitte helfen? (Could you please help me?)
 Ich hätte gern ein Bier. (I'd like a beer.)
 Hätten Sie Zeit, mir das zu erklären? (Would you have time to explain that to
me?)
Subjunctive I (NOT covered in this course!)
We don't have time to cover Subjunctive I in this course, but it's certainly worth knowing
about. Its basic use is for reporting indirect speech, i.e. what other people have said (or
thought). In everyday speech, one tends to ignore Subjunctive I and simply to use the
Indicative to report what other people say or think. In writing, one sees Subjunctive I
more often; it's particularly common in newspapers. Subjunctive I verb forms are very
regular, but the ending pattern is the same as for Subjunctive II. Tell-tale signs of
Subjunctive I
 third person singular verb with an -e ending instead of the -t ending you would
expect in the Present Indicative
 the forms sei and seien (from the verb sein)
Examples:
 Sie sagt, er sei ein Dummkopf (She says he's a fool)
 Er denkt, er könne fliegen (He thinks he can fly)
 Sie sagte, sie habe keine Zeit (She said she didn't have any time)
 Er glaubt, sie esse kein Schweinefleisch (He thinks she doesn't eat pork)
 Sie sagte, sie sei noch nie in Singapur gewesen (She said she'd never been to
Singapore)
 Er schrie, er habe gewonnen (He yelled that he had won)
For more information, see
http://lw.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/Grammatik/Konjunktiv_I.html