Subjunctive in German
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HideWhat is the German subjunctive?
The subjunctive (german: Konjunktiv) in German is a form of modality of a sentence. It has a wide variety of uses in the daily usage. The most important functions are to express
- indirect speech: "Robert meinte, er komme heute nicht zu Besuch" (Robert said, he wouldn't come to visit today)
- a sentence in a more polite way: "Könntest du mir bitte helfen?" (Could you please help me?)
- a wish: "Ich hätte gerne mehr Zeit." (I would like to have more time)
Additionally you need to keep in mind that in German we know 2 forms of the subjunctive for the different functions
- Subjunctive 1 is used for indirect speech an fixed expressions
- Subjunctive 2 is used for wishes and polite requests
In the following two chapters you will learn in detail all about the two froms of the subjunctive. Afterwards you can prove your knowledge with our exercises!
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