Konjunktiv 1 vs. Konjunktiv 2

Hallo, Deutschlerner. Have you encountered words like “hätte”, “würde” or “könnte”? Maybe “sei”? Have you ever seen a sentence in a newspaper that was conjugated like it should be the “ich” form of a verb, but was actually the “er, sie, es” form?

Those are all Konjunktiv, but there are two different Konjunktiv forms to worry about. They are aptly named Konjunktiv 1 and Konjunktiv 2. Today we’ll talk about when you would use each of them and what they generally look like. In future videos in this series I will show you in-depth how to form both the Konjunktiv 1 and Konjunktiv 2.

All Konjunktiv 1 & Konjunktiv 2 Lessons

Konjunktiv 1 vs Konjunktiv 2

Konjunktiv 1 Explained

Konjunktiv 2 Basics with würden

Konjunktiv 2 with hätte & wäre 

Konjunktiv 2 with Special Verbs

Konjunktiv 2 with Modal Verbs 

Konjunktiv 2 Listening Comprehension - Alternative Realities

Polite Requests with Konjunktiv 2 - Konjunktiv 2 Listening Comprehension

What is Konjunktiv?

First, what is “Konjunktiv” in English? We usually translate it as “subjunctive”. Konjunktiv 1 is what we call the “special subjunctive” in English, which of course made Konjunktiv 2 mad when they were growing up. All parents have a favorite, but naming one of your children “special subjunctive” when the other one is just “subjunctive” is just rude.

The Konjunktiv 2 is often called the conditional, which helps to explain what it does. Since his parents chose to call his brother “special” and not him, he made up for it by being more useful than his older brother.

The Konjunktiv 1 is used to express indirect discourse. In other words, when your siblings are arguing and you have to relay messages between them as some sort of awkward intermediary.

Bob: Tell Fred that he is being a jerk.
James: Bob says you are being a jerk.
Fred: Well, you tell Bob that it takes one to know one.
James: Fred says that you are a jerk too.

This is most commonly done when relaying messages between people in German or when reporting the news and you don’t directly quote someone.

Der Verdächtige sagte, er sei nicht in der Nähe gewesen, als die Bank ausgeraubt wurde. Er behauptete, dass er einen Film mit seiner Freundin im Kino gesehen habe. -
The suspect said he wasn’t nearby when the bank was robbed. He claims he was watching a film with his girlfriend in the movie theater.

Konjunktiv 1 Conjugation of "sein"

Notice the use of “sei” and “habe” here. These two are being used as helping verbs to form the past tense of the Konjunktiv 1. “Sei” is a form of the verb “sein”, which gets a unique conjugation for the Konjunktiv 1.

ich sei - I am
du seist - you are
er, sie, es sei - he, she, it is
wir seien - we are
ihr seiet - you are
sie, Sie seien - they, you are

Konjunktiv 1 Verb Conjugation

For verbs other than “sein” we use a modified version of the present tense conjugation to create the present forms of the Konjunktiv 1. For example:

ich mache - I do, make
du machest - you do, make
er, sie, es mache - he, she, it does, makes
wir machen - we do, make
ihr machet - you do, make
sie, Sie machen - you do, make

ich gehe - I go
du gehest - you go
er, sie, es gehe - he, she, it goes
wir gehen - we go
ihr gehet - you go
sie, Sie gehen - they, you go

As you can see, there are a few forms that are identical to the regular present tense conjugated forms of these verbs. For this reason most verbs only use the 3rd person singular in the Konjunktiv 1. Otherwise it would be indistinguishable from the indicative (normal present tense). If there is a need to quote a plural then you need to resort to Konjunktiv 2 unless you are using the verb “sein”.

Meine Mutter sagt, mein Bruder mache nichts. -
My mother says my brother does nothing.

Fred behauptet, die Familie gehe morgen früh los. -
Fred claims the family is leaving early tomorrow.

Real Life Examples of Konjunktiv 1 in Use

As I said before, most of the time these forms are used when reporting the news. Here are a few lines I pulled from a Deutsche Welle article about the war in Ukraine.

Die Drohnen seien alle von der Luftabwehr zerstört worden, so das ukrainische Militär. -
The drones were all destroyed by the air defense, according to the Ukrainian Military.

Zudem habe Russland vier Raketen auf die Ukraine abgefeuert. -
Russia also launched four rockets into Ukraine.

Both of these examples use the past tense version of Konjunktiv 1. They used Konjunktiv 1, because this is based on reports from each of the parties involved and are not direct quotes. That is the use of the Konjunktiv 1.

If you want to learn all of the ins and outs of the Konjunktiv 1 and how to form it in all of the tenses in which it can be formed, click here.

What Does Konjunkitv 2 Look Like?

Konjunktiv 2 is a completely different beast. It is the more popular of the two Konjunktivs, but it is also the more complicated one to learn. The cool part is that if you have already learned the Präteritum forms of irregular verbs in German, you are pretty close to making the Konjunktiv 2 forms. Just sprinkle some umlauts and E’s in there and your forms will be complete.

Ich wäre reicher, wenn ich mehr Geld hätte. -
I would be richer, if I had more money.

Wenn ich an deiner Stelle wäre, würde ich nicht mehr hier stehen. -
If I were in your position, I wouldn’t stand here any more.

When to Use Konjunktiv 2

As these two silly examples show, you use the Konjunktiv 2 when expressing something that is contrary to reality. In the first example, I am not rich and I don’t have more money, so when I say “I would be richer” I am saying “I’m not richer.” Similarly in the second half of that sentence, I said “ich hätte mehr Geld”, because I don’t have more money, “I would have (had) more money.”

People often get it twisted that the Konjunktiv 2 is used for dreams, hopes, wishes and the like. This is more of a byproduct of what the Konjunktiv 2 does. It expresses things that are contrary to reality. Dreams are usually not reality. Neither are hopes or wishes. Therefore, you can usually express them using the Konjunktiv 2, but none of those things require the Konjunktiv 2 in order to express them.

Ich habe gestern Nacht geträumt, dass ich in einer Schule war. -
I dreamed last night that I was in a school.

There is no contrary to reality part here. I did really dream that and in that dream I really was in a school. Just because there is a dream involved doesn’t mean it uses the Konjunktiv 2.

Ich träume von einer besseren Welt, in der ich nicht mehr arbeiten muss. -
I dream of a better world in which I do not have to work.

Again, there is no Konjunktiv 2, because there is no expression of something contrary to reality. We are simply stating an illustration of the world I envision.

So when do we use Konjunktiv 2? Only when there is an expression of something contrary to reality.

Er wäre noch am Leben, wenn er nicht so viel geraucht hätte. -
He would still be alive, if he wouldn’t have smoked so much.

He isn’t alive and he did smoke too much. Both of those are expressing something contrary to reality, so we use the Konjunktiv 2.

How to Form Konjunktiv 2

I mentioned that you form the Konjunktiv 2 by adding umlauts and E’s to the Präteritum tense, but that is a sweeping generalization and isn’t always accurate. The three main verbs you need to know are “sein”, “haben” and “werden”. These three will allow you to talk about everything in the past and present with the Konjunktiv 2. If you learn other verbs beyond that, start with the modal verbs and then add other ones as icing on the cake. Let’s at least see the conjugation of the top 3.

ich wäre - I were
du wärest - you were
er, sie, es wäre - he, she, it were
wir wären - we were
ihr wäret - you were
sie, Sie wären - they, you were

ich hätte - I had
du hättest -you had
er, sie, es hätte - he, she, it had
wir hätten - we had
ihr hättet - you had
sie, Sie hätten - they, you had

ich würde - I would
du würdest - you would
er, sie, es würde - he, she, it would
wir würden - we would
ihr würdet - you would
sie, Sie würden - they, you would

As you can see, this just looks like the Präteritum forms “war”, “hatte” and “wurde” with some extra umlauts and E’s.

If you want to do a deep dive into the Konjunktiv 2 and how it is used, click here.

All Konjunktiv 1 & Konjunktiv 2 Lessons

Konjunktiv 1 vs Konjunktiv 2

Konjunktiv 1 Explained

Konjunktiv 2 Basics with würden

Konjunktiv 2 with hätte & wäre 

Konjunktiv 2 with Special Verbs

Konjunktiv 2 with Modal Verbs 

Konjunktiv 2 Listening Comprehension - Alternative Realities