Hallo, Deutschlerner. You know a lot about how to use Konjunktiv 2 in German to express things that are contrary to reality.

You know you can use “werden” with most verbs to express the present or future tenses in sentences like “Ich würde diesen Kanal abonnieren.” (I would subscribe to this channel.)

You can also form the verbs “haben” and “sein” in Konjunktiv 2 either on their own in the present tense or with a Partizip 2 in the past tense in sentences like “Ich hätte mehr Geld, wenn ich Deutsch gelernt hätte.” (I would have more money, if I had learned German.) or “Ich wäre glücklicher, wenn ich im Deutschunterricht geblieben wäre.” (I would be happier, if I would have stayed in German class.)

In this lesson you will learn how and why to use modal verbs in the Konjunktiv 2. Grab a notebook and a pen and let’s get started.

What are Modal Verbs?

For a quick refresher, modal verbs are verbs that change the way the main verb acts within a sentence. There is probably a more complicated way to explain this, but that’s the general idea.

You can go from a sentence like “Ich gehe ins Kino.” to “Ich will ins Kino gehen.” There is a huge difference between going to the movies and wanting to go to the movies. While both sentences use “gehen” as the main verb, the modal verb “wollen” changes the sentence entirely.

Modal verbs in German include: mögen, müssen, dürfen, können, sollen and wollen.

Konjunktiv 2 of “mögen”

You are likely already familiar with the Konjunktiv 2 version of “mögen”, as it is often used in polite requests and is usually taught alongside the other modal verbs as if it were its own verb. That form is “möchten”.

In order to create this, we took the forms of the verb “mögen” in the Präteritum tense and added umlauts to every form. “ich mag” becomes “ich mochte” in the past and “ich möchte” in Konjunktiv 2. The rest of the Konjunktiv 2 forms of “mögen” are as follows:

Conjugation of Modal Verbs in Konjunktiv 2

Since you are probably already familiar with this form of “mögen”, I’m not going to dwell on that any further. It is a great way to think about the forms of the other modal verbs, however. Start with the Präteritum form of the verb. Then add an umlaut to everything except sollten and wollten. I’ll explain why in a bit.

Konjunktiv 2 of müssen

What’s up with “wollen” in Konjunktiv 2?

I said I would explain why sollen and wollen don’t get umlauts in Konjunktiv 2. First, it just sounds weird and would be clunky. Ich wöllte? Er söllte? It doesn’t exactly slide off the tongue. The second reason is because “wollen” is never going to be used like this. The only time that contrary to reality “wanting” can happen is when talking about the deceased. For example:

Mein Vater würde wohl wollen, dass ich ein Motorrad kaufe. –
My father would probably have wanted me to buy a motorcycle.

Notice that I used “würde” instead of “wollte”? That’s because it would be ambiguous. It could have been interpreted as your father told you before he died that you should buy a motorcycle, but that isn’t what I am trying to express here. There was no explicit knowledge of his wishes with regards to your purchasing a motorcycle. We are purely guessing here.

The bottom line is that there are better ways to express whatever you might have wanted to say using “wollen” in Konjunktiv 2. It just isn’t used.

What’s up with “sollen” in Konjunktiv 2?

“sollen” goes down a different path. The Konjunktiv 2 has long been associated with polite requests. That is exactly what “sollen” does. It makes polite recommendations for people. You can tell someone what they should do. This looks exactly like the past tense, but context is king here. It allows us to readily recognize the difference between past and Konjunktiv 2.

There is also a bit of a “who cares” factor involved with “sollen” in Konjunktiv 2. In the end, does it matter if you are saying “he shouldn’t go” or “he shouldn’t have gone”? Not really. Here are a few examples:

Sollten wir nach Hause fahren? –
Should we have driven home? (Should we drive home?)

In each of these sentences, no one cares which one it is. Either the action is already over and you drove home and now you are questioning this decision or you have yet to leave and you are contemplating the idea of driving home. Context will tell you which one is meant, but the grammar doesn’t matter here, because the end result is the same. There is a third context. It could be a past, recommended, requested. Were we requested to drive home? (while not home yet)

Solltet ihr eure Mutter fragen? –
Were you supposed to ask your mother? (Should you ask your mother?)

This one is even more on the nose. If you assume it was the past tense (Were you supposed to ask your mother?), the implication is that you should call your mother. If you assume the Konjunktiv 2 (Should you ask your mother?), it is explicitly telling you to ask your mother. Either way, when you hear the German sentence, you would go ask your mother.

“müssen” in Konjunktiv 2

So we have crossed “mögen”, “wollen” and “sollen” off our list. Let’s see how we can use the other modal verbs to form Konjunktiv 2 examples.

Was wäre, wenn ich hier arbeiten wollte? Was müsste ich tun? –
What would happen if I wanted to work here? What would I have to do?

Sie müssten dieses Formular ausfüllen. –
You would have to fill out this form.

Why not just use “müssen” in this sentence? I assume that the context of this sentence required Konjunktiv 2. The customer is asking what it would take for them to apply for a job. They didn’t say they wanted to apply for the job. They simply asked what it might be, if they were to apply for the job. This is all being expressed in Konjunktiv 2. It would be natural to continue the conversation in Konjunktiv 2, because the premise was presented by the customer in Konjunktiv 2.

“dürfen” in Konjunktiv 2

Ich dürfte kein Eis essen, wenn ich laktoseintolerant wäre. –
I wouldn’t be allowed to eat ice cream if I were lactose intolerant.

Dürftest du mit mir ins Kino gehen, wenn ich deinen Vater fragen würde? –
Would you be allowed to go to the movies with me, if I were to ask your father?

“können” in Konjunktiv 2

When you use “können” in Konjunktiv 2, it is most likely to request something in German. For example:

Könnten Sie mir bitte zeigen, wo der Bahnhof ist? –
Could you please show me where the train station is?

Könntest du die Tür bitte zumachen? –
Could you please close the door?

You can use it in the traditional Konjunktiv 2 ways, however. For example:

Er könnte schneller fahren, wenn er einen Audi gekauft hätte. –
He could drive faster if he would have bought an Audi.

Wir könnten nach dem Film ins Restaurant gehen. –
We could go to the restaurant after the film.

Forming the Past Tense with Modal Verbs in Konjunktiv 2

The main thing that you need to take away from all of this is that you conjugate the modal verbs in the forms I gave you earlier and then put the other verb at the end of the sentence or clause like you would any other time you use a modal verb.

There is one small caveat that you should be aware of, however. To talk about what someone could have done or would have been allowed to do in the past, you need a different construction. It is called a double infinitive and does exactly what you think it does. You use the Konjunktiv 2 forms of “haben” plus the infinitive forms of the main verb and the modal verb. For example:

Du hättest ins Kino gehen dürfen, wenn du dein Zimmer aufgeräumt hättest. –
You would have been allowed to go to the movies, if you would have cleaned your room.

Er hätte den Boden trocknen können, wenn es ein sauberes Tuch irgendwo im Haus gäbe. –
He could have dried off the floor, if there were a clean towel anywhere in the house.

I know what you are thinking. Where did “gäbe” come from? Well, that is one of the verbs that are commonly used in their official Konjunktiv 2 forms. No “würde” anywhere in sight. If you want to understand how to do that, click the link in the list below.

Konjunktiv 1 & Konjunktiv 2

For more about the Konjunktiv 1 or Konjunktiv 2, check out these articles.

• Konjunktiv 1 vs Konjunktiv 2
• Konjunktiv 2 Explained
• Konjunktiv 2 in Common Conversations
• Konjunktiv 2 with “würden”
• Konjunktiv 2 with “haben” (hätte) and “sein” (wäre)
• Konjunktiv 2 with Modal Verbs
• Common Verbs with Konjunktiv 2