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German Past Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II)

The past Konjunktiv II talks about things that could have happened but did not, and about regrets: hätte or wäre plus the past participle. With modal verbs, use hätte plus a double infinitive.

  • CEFR B2
  • 10-question quiz
  • 2 exercises
  • Audio lesson
Past perfect vs. past subjunctive
  1. Er hatte gearbeitet.→Er hätte gearbeitet.he would have worked
  2. Sie war gekommen.→Sie wäre gekommen.she would have come
  3. Wir konnten es machen.→Wir hätten es machen können.we could have done it
  4. Ich musste gehen.→Ich hätte gehen müssen.I would have had to go
  5. Du solltest anrufen.→Du hättest anrufen sollen.you should have called

Listen to the lesson

The past subjunctive is a verb “mood” used to express uncertainty, doubt, or a contrary-to-reality condition. It is also frequently utilized to reflect politeness and good manners.

The past tense of the general subjunctive in German (Konjunktiv II) is similar to the past perfect: both use a form of one of the helping verbs (sein or haben) in second position with a past participle of the main verb at the end of the sentence or clause (in regular word order). Look at the following examples:

Er hatte seine Arbeit nicht gemacht.     (past perfect)

Er hätte seine Arbeit nicht gemacht.     (past subjunctive)

In the first sentence, “He had not done his work,” but, in the second one, we translate it as “He would not have done his work.” The only difference in the structure in German is the use of the subjunctive form of the helping verb, which we already know from the present tense subjunctive (e.g. hätte, wäre).

Sie ist gestern Abend ins Restaurant gegangen.     (present perfect)
She went to a restaurant yesterday evening.

Sie wäre gestern Abend ins Restaurant gegangen, aber sie musste arbeiten. (past subjunctive)
She would have gone to a restaurant yesterday evening, but she had to work.

The key distinction in the past form is that würden is generally not used (forms like “würde … gemacht haben” exist but are rare), and modal verbs use a double infinitive form. For example,

Wir könnten die Arbeit machen. (present subjunctive) 
We could do the work. 

Wir hätten die Arbeit machen können.  (past subjunctive)
We could have done the work. 

Note that, in the past subjunctive, the subjunctive form of the helping verb is used, but the modal verb is pushed to the end (after the main verb) in its infinitive form. The translation for the second sentence is: “We could have done the work.” When dependent word order is used (e.g. after a subordinating conjunction), just like the double infinitive form of the present perfect, the conjugated helping verb immediately precedes the double infinitive:

Ich weiß, dass wir die Arbeit hätten machen können.
I know that we could have done the work. 

The past subjunctive is a verb “mood” used to express uncertainty, doubt, or a contrary-to-reality condition. It is also frequently utilized to reflect politeness and good manners. This in itself is a great reason to learn this topic! The subjunctive is not a verb tense, but rather it is a “mood” that can be used in various tenses. The “past subjunctive” (another name for the Subjunctive II) gets its name from the fact that its forms are based on the past tense. The Subjunctive I is called the “present subjunctive” because it is based on the present tense. But don’t let those terms confuse you: the subjunctive is not a verb tense.

Key vocabulary

WordMeaningExample
hätte ... + participlewould have (done) – with haben verbsIch hätte dich angerufen, aber mein Akku war leer.
wäre ... + participlewould have (gone, come) – with sein verbsWir wären gern zur Messe gefahren.
hätte ... könnencould have (done)Wir hätten das Projekt früher abschließen können.
hätte ... sollenshould have (done)Ich hätte die E-Mail noch einmal lesen sollen.
hätte ... müssenwould have had to (do)Ohne dich hätte ich am Wochenende arbeiten müssen.
Hätte ich das nur gewusst!If only I had known that!Hätte ich das nur gewusst, dann wäre ich früher losgefahren.
verpassento miss (a train, a meeting)Wenn ich den Zug nicht verpasst hätte, wäre ich pünktlich gewesen.
absagento cancelSie hätte den Termin absagen sollen.
rechtzeitigin timeEr hätte die Unterlagen rechtzeitig abschicken müssen.

Practice: German Past Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II)

Work through the exercises, then test yourself with the quiz. Learn from your mistakes and try again as often as you like.

Exercises

Translate and add the participle

Items 1–5: translate into German. Items 6–10: write the past participle of the verb in parentheses.

  1. He would have gone to work.

    zur Arbeit gehen (sein verb)

    Show answer

    Er wäre zur Arbeit gegangen.

  2. I would have called you.

    anrufen (haben verb)

    Show answer

    Ich hätte dich angerufen.

  3. She would have come along.

    mitkommen (sein verb)

    Show answer

    Sie wäre mitgekommen.

  4. We would have been too late.

    zu spät sein

    Show answer

    Wir wären zu spät gewesen.

  5. You would have said something.

    etwas sagen (du form)

    Show answer

    Du hättest etwas gesagt.

  6. Sie hätte mich ______. (anrufen)

    She would have called me.

    Show answer

    angerufen

  7. Wir hätten die E-Mail ______. (lesen)

    We would have read the email.

    Show answer

    gelesen

  8. Sie hätte den Kaffee ______. (trinken)

    She would have drunk the coffee.

    Show answer

    getrunken

  9. Er wäre früher ______. (losfahren)

    He would have left earlier.

    Show answer

    losgefahren

  10. Ihr wärt später ______. (ankommen)

    You (pl.) would have arrived later.

    Show answer

    angekommen

Hätte or wäre?

Items 1–5: fill in the correct form of hätte or wäre. Items 6–10: complete the sentence with hätte/wäre and the participle of the verb in parentheses.

  1. Ich ______ am Samstag gearbeitet.

    I would have worked on Saturday.

    Show answer

    hätte

  2. Wir ______ gern mitgekommen.

    We would have liked to come along.

    Show answer

    wären

  3. Ihr ______ mit der S-Bahn gefahren.

    You (pl.) would have taken the S-Bahn.

    Show answer

    wärt (wäret)

  4. Sie ______ die E-Mail rechtzeitig abgeschickt.

    She (they) would have sent the email in time.

    Show answer

    hätte (hätten)

  5. Er ______ das Auto genommen.

    He would have taken the car.

    Show answer

    hätte

  6. Sie ______ den Termin ______. (absagen)

    She would have canceled the appointment.

    Show answer

    hätte ... abgesagt

  7. Wir ______ das Essen vorher ______. (essen)

    We would have eaten the food beforehand.

    Show answer

    hätten ... gegessen

  8. Er ______ beim Kellner eine Flasche Wein ______. (bestellen)

    He would have ordered a bottle of wine from the waiter.

    Show answer

    hätte ... bestellt

  9. Ich ______ dich sofort von meinem Handy ______. (anrufen)

    I would have called you right away from my cell phone.

    Show answer

    hätte ... angerufen

  10. Wir ______ schon längst am Flughafen ______. (sein)

    We would have been at the airport long ago.

    Show answer

    wären ... gewesen

Quiz: 10 questions

1. Wenn ich gestern nicht verschlafen ______, ______ ich pünktlich zur Arbeit gekommen.
2. ______ ich doch früher ins Bett ______!
3. Put this into the past: "Wenn ich reich wäre ..."
4. Which sentence is the only one in the past Konjunktiv II?
5. Translate: "Had I not missed the train ..."
6. Which of the following sentences is incorrect?
7. What might someone who failed an important exam think?
8. Which of the following sentences is in the past subjunctive?
9. Translate: "Had he not forgotten it ..."
10. Sie ______ gern mitgekommen.

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