“conditional” is a statement that revolves around a condition in the sense of “if… then”. There are different types of these statements and some of those types might need a special form of the verb to be expressed. Even though conditional statements are pretty universal, the rules and definitions vary a lot between languages.
On this site, I also use “Conditional” for the verb form. Officially, it is called “Subjunktiv” in German.
Do you have questions about the usage or meaning of “Conditional”? Just ask here and I’ll try to clear it up.
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Hallo Emmanuel! After reading 2 of your articles for Konjunktiv II when I did a google search and brought me to your site, I was convinced THIS is the blog I needed to learn my German more effectively!
Hence I signed up for the $100 forever subscription without a doubt. You deserved that :)
Ok, back to my REAL question… where can I find your write ups about Konjunktiv I? This topic is bothering me too much that I needed to understand the whys and hows.
Thanks again for this great website!
Cheers
LP
Oh, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you there. I don’t have anything on the Konjunktiv 1 because I think it’s an absolute waste of time, unless you’re C1 already and want to become a journalist in German.
You do not need this form in daily life, full stop.
What are you confused about in particular though? Maybe I can clear it up in the comments here :)
In my German course we are asked to use Konjunktiv I to make up the sentences using “sein” and “haben”. How is this different from the usual sentences we will write in German?
Thanks for your prompt response!
So Konjunktiv 1 is used to mark something as “reported speech”. So whatever you saying to someone is something someone else said.
Since these things are usually prefaced by something like “XYZ said this and that”, the form doesn’t really add much, but you do find it in journalism. If news do a longer or interspersed quote from someone, it can be useful.
The form is the base verb plus “e” for singular and “en” for plural.
– Laut Marias Pressesprecher habe Thomas seit mehr als zwei Wochen nicht abgewaschen.
– Die Einhörner im Park seien ungefährlich”, sagte der Bürgermeister.
Does that help?
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