KONJUNKTIV II in the PRESENT TENSE

The Konjunktiv II

The Konjunktiv II is a verb form that you will mostly find in indirect speech. You use it when using Konjunktiv I is ambiguous, meaning the verb would be the same as another form of the verb.

It can also sometimes be used to express imaginary situations, dreams, suggestions, and recommendations. For example:

• Wenn ich gut Deutsch sprechen könnte, redete ich die ganze Zeit. (If I could speak German well, I would talk the whole time.)

Just like the Konjunktiv I, Konjunktiv II is not used very often and is rarely found in everyday spoken language.

The Konjunktiv II can be in the Present, Plusquamperfekt (past perfect), Futur I and Futur II tense. Let's take a look at the Konjunktiv II, when and how to use it and how to construct all the different tenses.

The Present Tense

The present form of the Konjunktiv II will be the same as the simple past tense (Präteritum) for regular verbs and is used mostly for auxiliary verbs and modal verbs.

Let's see what the auxiliary verbs haben (to have), sein (to be) and the verb werden (to become) look like in the Konjunktiv II:

For example:

• Ich hätte gerne ein Stück Pizza. (I would like a piece of pizza.)
• Wir würden das nie sagen. (We would never say that.)

And here is a quick review of the modal verbs in the Konjunktiv II:

Some examples:

• Er könnte das machen, aber er will nicht. (He could do that, but he doesn't want to.)
• Wir sollten zur Arbeit gehen. (We should go to work.)
• Könnten Sie das bitte wiederholen? (Could you please repeat that?)

And here is how the Konjunktiv II looks with the verb machen (to make):

Since the Konjunktiv II of the regular verbs, like machen, look exactly like the simple past, it will often be substituted with the würde + Infinitive form. For example:

Präteritum: Ich machte einen Kuchen.
Konjunktiv II: Ich machte einen Kuchen.
Würde + Infinitiv: Ich würde einen Kuchen machen.

Irregular verbs will get the endings -e, -est, -e, -en, -et, -en and an Umlaut (vowel mutation) if they have the vovel a,o or u in their stem. For example the verb fahren (to drive):