Hello everyone,
and welcome back to our mini series on Conditional in German. And if you thought you’re just gonna calmly sit there and read something then you’re gravely mistaken.
Because today, we’ll hit the gym and do this:
Non Past Conditional – XFit Full Body Workout
**intense** #flatabs
In part one and two we’ve learned about the non-past conditional and today we’ll put that into practice.
If you haven’t read part one and two, you can find them here (and no, part one isn’t “just” and overview. You need it!!)
Conditional Pt. 1 – An Overview
Conditional Pt. 2 – The Real Conditional
Of course you can also try this exercise, if you haven’t read the articles. But don’t whine if you fail.
Cool.
So here’s what we’ll do:
I’ll give you a “normal” statement in German and you’ll have to take it and make it into a statement with Conditional.
The main part of that is of course making the right choice between Real Conditional and würde-Conditional and putting it into the sentence correctly.
- Wenn ich Hunger habe, esse ich. (When I am hungry, I eat.)
- Wenn ich Hunger hätte, würde ich essen. (If I were hungry, I’d eat.)
But there are a few more difficulties in there.
Uhm… hooray :)
Just doing verb replacements is fine. And in some examples, that’s all you’ll have to do.
But there always a danger with these routine things that you switch to auto pilot and you get everything right but you have no clue what you’re actually saying.
So in quite a few of the examples you’ll need to make certain “adjustments” as an extra challenge.
Like changing a dass to a wenn.
- Ich freue mich, dass du mal abwäschst.
(I’m happy that you’re doing the dishes for once.) - Ich würde mich freuen, wenn du abwaschen würdest.
(I’d be happy if you did the dishes for once.)
And while this is pretty simple, the real challenge is changing a weil to a wenn and changing (or adding) a negation.
- Ich komme nicht zu deiner Party, weil ich keine Zeit habe.
(I’m not coming to your party, because I don’t have time.) - Ich würde zu deiner Party kommen, wenn ich Zeit hätte.
(I would come to your party if I had time.)
The idea in these kinds of examples is that the conditional statement describes an alternative to the original without changing the situation. We’re looking at the same reality from two perspectives.
Phew… I realize that actually sounds quite complicated :).
I think it’s best if we just jump in. You’ll figure it out on the go. Or the second time. And hey… even if you didn’t get the extra challenge right for a question… take a second to think what the meaning of the sentence is. And then take a second to check what the meaning of your sentence is. And if it makes sense, then perfect.
Anyway, let’s jump right in.
For the solution you can check the audio and if you need it written, then just click the little button.
That’s right, regular readers… I have a nice exercise setup now :).
So… viel Spaß!!
Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich kommen.
Wenn ich sauer wäre, würde ich es dir sagen.
Ich wäre froh, wenn ich heute nicht arbeiten müsste.
Wenn mein Mitbewohner nicht Klavier üben würde, könnte ich schlafen.
Wenn ich noch Geld hätte, würde ich noch ein Bier nehmen.
Ich würde schwimmen gehen, wenn es warm wäre.
Ich würde mich freuen, wenn du kommst.
Würdest du mit nach Kopenhagen kommen, wenn ich dir den Zug bezahle?
Es wäre Quatsch jetzt noch anzurufen. Es ist fast um 8.
Ich fände es super, wenn der Sommer dieses Jahr nicht so schlecht wäre wie letztes Jahr.
Ich hätte nicht so oft Streit mit meinem Mitbewohner, wenn er abwaschen würde.
Wir könnten eine Schneeballschlacht machen, wenn der Schnee nicht schon schmelzen würde.
Thomas würde nicht wie 40 aussehen, wenn er sich rasieren würde.
Ich würde mit zum See kommen, wenn mein Fahrrad nicht kaputt wäre.
Ich könnte mit zum See kommen, wenn mein Fahrrad nicht kaputt wäre.
Ich würde nicht so viel Fastfood essen, wenn ich Zeit hätte, zu kochen.
Was würdest du machen, wenn ich deinen Jogurt essen würde/esse?
Maria würde ihren Termin nicht verpassen, wenn sie nicht im Stau stehen würde.
Ich wäre überrascht, wenn mein Fahrrad noch am Bahnhof steht.
Wenn er nicht zu schüchtern wäre, würde sich Max trauen, mit Carla zu tanzen.
Maria würde nicht so viel rauchen, wenn sie keinen Stress hätte.
Wenn ich frische Kräuter hätte, wäre die Suppe perfekt.
Wenn Maria groß genug wäre, wäre sie Model.
Maria würde Thomas eine Karte aus dem Urlaub schreiben, wenn sie seine Adresse auswendig wüsste/wissen würde.
Wenn der Espresso nicht so ekelhaft wäre, würde ich in das Café gehen, .
Fändest du es schade, wenn wir uns heute nicht sehen würden?
Hättest du was dagegen, wenn ich in deinem Bett schlafe, wenn du nicht da bist?
Ich könnte mich konzentrieren, wenn ich keine Kopfschmerzen hätte.
Wenn ich Bier hätte , hätte ich gute Laune.
Wenn es kein Bier gäbe , wäre ich nicht glücklich.
Hooray, you made it :). Glückwunsch, you really deserve a beer now!!
How was it? Was that difficult? How many did you get correct? Did you like the format and the chaotic structure?
Let me know your thoughts and feedback in the comments. And of course also all the questions you might have. And I’m sure, you have some. I would, there are a few lose ends in here :). But we’ll clear it all up together.
I hope you found this helpful and enjoyed it. Schöne Woche euch, und bis nächstes Mal.
This example made me pause:
“Ich könnte mit zum See kommen, wenn mein Fahrrad nicht kaputt wäre.”
At first I thought “mit” was part of mitkommen, but then it would be in one word in a sentence with modal. So it’s a preposition, but one without a noun. Is this common in german? Or is it kind of united with zum “mit zum…”, like “bis zum…”? When do I use this construction instead of mitkommen?
It’s an adverb here that modifies the act “zum See kommen”.
It’s very common for “mit” and also “her” and “hin” to be this kind of “free radical”. It can bind to the verb, but it can also not do that.
– Ich könnte zum See mitkommen….
If you say it this way, you have to write it as the verb “mitkommen”, because if the gravity between the prefix and the verb.
– Ich könnte mit zum See kommen…
Here, we have the act of “zum See kommmen” which we then modify with “mit” just like we would, say, add “schnell” or “morgen”.
– Ich könnte schnell/morgen/mit zum See kommen.
There’s no difference in meaning though.
Does that help?
Yep, that clears it, thanks.
Hi Emmanuel. I have a question with 27.
Q.Hast du was dagegen, dass ich in deinem Bett schlafe, wenn du nicht da bist?
A. hattest du was dagegen, wenn ich in deinem bett schlafen wurden, wenn du nicht da bist?
Why is using wurden wrong here? I dont get my mistake
– Hättest du was dagegen, wenn ich in deinem Bett schlafen würde, wenn du nicht da bist.
This is not wrong. The second “würde” is just kind of not needed. It just makes it sound more hypothetical, so whether or not to use it really depends on how realistic you want it to sound.
German is pretty liberal with the conditional and there are a lot of such examples where you can take it or leave it out.
Gotcha. I was strictly following the rules, that’s why the confusion. Did not know that it was quite flexible
I did a good job, first time, ever !!!!
I disagree with night because haette does not work in episode 3
Hi, Emanuel, I was wondering if “ Thomas würde wie 40 nicht aussehen, wenn er sich rasieren würde” would work for exercise 13. The answer that you gave was “ Thomas würde nicht wie 40 aussehen, wenn er sich rasieren würde”
Thanks
No, that would sound weird because then “wie 40” is part of the scene, and you’re only negating “looking like”, which then implies there’s something else that he “is” like 40.
The action here is not just “looking like” but “looking 40”.
Does that help?
Yes, thanks
this might be obvious, but what is the difference between wäre and würde? specifically in the second parts of these sentences?
Please read the series and then give me examples that are not clear.
“wäre” and “würde” have very little to do with each other besides that they are conditional.
Sorry, what I meant was when do I know when to use which, but after using a bit of critical thinking I think that “wäre” means “would be” and does not need a helper verb whilst “würde” is used along with a helper verb. Does this sound about right?
No, “wäre” is the present tense condition version of “sein”. And you can use it to express a present conditional of “sein” or as the past conditional helper verb for verbs that take “sein” for their past tense.
– Es wäre schön.
– It would be nice.
– Er wäre zu spät gekommen.
– He would have come too late.
It’s all in the articles actually, if you need more examples.
Wäre ist sein verb und würde ist future verb.
Hi, Emanuel, I am wondering in the sentences such as :”Was würdest du machen, wenn ich deinen Jogurt essen würde/esse?” or “Ich würde mich freuen, wenn du kommst”.
When do you use kommen würde (or essen würde) instead of just using kommst or esse? I.e. I am not sure when should you put the other verb in konjunktiv II also?
There’s no real difference in meaning. Using the konjunktiv 2 just makes it sound more “fictional” or polite. A friend might do it when they ask you something that they know you won’t be a fan of, for instance.
Hope that helps.
Hi Emmanuel, just wondering would it be possible to shift the idea in the 15 and make it
Ich könnte nicht mit zum See kommen, wenn mein Fahrrad kaputt wäre.
instead of
Ich könnte mit zum See kommen, wenn mein Fahrrad nicht kaputt wäre.
Am I missing anything?
Yes, that also works :). One implies that the bike is broken, the other that it’s NOT broken. But going from the original, both options are possible.
I got most of these right (like probably 25 /30)
Where i struggled was when to use the Originalform (the real konjuntiv). For example here was what i wrote:
Thomas sähe wie 40 aus, wenn er sich rasieren würde.
or here
kämest du mit nach Kopenhagen, wenn ich dir den Zug bezählen würde?
i also had the issue of deciding when the second clause is in konjuntiv or not. This has been a struggle for a while.
e.g.
Hättest du was dagegen, wenn ich in deinem Bett schlafen würde, wenn du nicht da wäre?
Would forms like “es gibt” as a rule normally take the original form gäbe? I can see how “geben würde” could sound weird
i guess kämest is not the preferable option because its more normal to use this for more abstract things (?) By the way when I try to click “previous lesson” from lesson 4 in this series i didn’t work. moving forward worked fine
There are no real strict rules here, and a lot of it is region and speaker dependent.
A rule of thumb for English natives is that you use LESS Konjunktiv than you’d expect. The bed example for instance sound better (to me) with just “schlafen”.
As for the real conditional form… again, lot of gray area here, but the “du”-form is the most rare. “kämest” sounds a bit stilted, but I can imagine people saying thing.
In case of “kommst du mit”, we have two indications that it should be “würde”:
For “aussehen”… there, both versions sound equally fine to me.
Not sure if this is helpful in any way, but yeah… you’ll never find definite answers to these questions. You’ll have to build your own feeling for it over time.
ok, that does help actually
Oops thought that was note save button xd
Just to make sure… can I delete these two?
for sure ! including this one :)
by the way i think its a good idea to add a delete and edit button for the comments section for cases like these xd
I thought about it, but I don’t like the idea that users randomly delete the head of a thread they started, leaving the replies without context or even deleted (I have never tried it).
Really liked this exercise! There were a couple of places where your answer had “nicht so viel” and I had said “weniger” (16 and 21) how bad do these sound with weniger?
Oh, that works perfectly as well. The overall message is the same.
Thanks!
why do we sometimes don’t convert the 2nd half of the sentence to “conditional“, for example:
7) Ich würde mich freuen, wenn du kommst.
and NOT (wenn du kommen würde)
8) Kommst du mit nach Kopenhagen, wenn ich dir den Zug bezahle?
and NOT (wenn ich dir den Zug bezahlen würde)
and example 19.
(Ich wäre überrascht, wenn mein Fahrrad noch am Bahnhof steht.)
while for instance in example 26,
(Fändest du es schade, wenn wir uns heute nicht sehen würden?)
we used “conditional” for the 2nd part ?
There’s no rule for this unfortunately. It’s a matter of how you want it to sound. Using the conditional in both parts sounds “more” conditional, and you can either use it to stress “unlikelyness” or you can use it for being a bit less direct (like in the example you quoted).
I’d say more often than not in these kinds of statements, the wenn-part is NOT in conditional.
Just to make sure… it’s not really a question of right or wrong. It’s a question of what’s more idiomatic.
Wunderbare Beispielen und Übungen! Ihr Werk ist ausgezeichnet, es würde mir drei Mal so lange dauern, zu wirklich Deutsch zu lernen, wenn es nicht dank dir wäre.
(2,5 months learner here, so here is what I was going for:
Wonderful examples and exercises! Your work is awesome, it would take me thrice as long to learn German effectively if it weren’t for you.)
Wow, für die kurze Zeit war das wahnsinnig gut!!
Hier ist die richtige Version:
– Wunderbare Beispiele und Übungen! Deine Arbeit (“Ihr Werk” ist zu formell) ist ausgezeichnet.
– Es würde drei mal so lange dauern… ohne “mir”, oder
– ich würde dreimal so lange brauchen, um wirklich Deutsch zu lernen, wenn du nicht wärst.
Sag Bescheid, falls du dazu Fragen hast. Aber ich habe deine Version komplett verstanden. Gut gemacht!! Hast du wirklich vor 2,5 Monaten erst angefangen??
Wonderful examples, just one “complaint” from my POV, if the audio examples were a little bit slower it would’ve been better, as somehow it’s possible to miss out on exactly what you are saying/how you are saying it. Outside of that, really wonderful material for free, vielen dank!
That’s a really funny coincidence, because today, I’ll add a new feature for slowing down examples on the site :D
Nummer 7: “… wenn du kommest,” anstatt “wenn du kommst.”
Was denken Sie daran?
Nein, das geht garnicht. Warum fragst du das?
in English: “I would be happy if you came.” Both verbs subjunctive.
“Ich würde mich freuen, wenn du kommest.” Beide verben auch konjunctive? Anscheinend nicht.
Ah, I see… that would be “kommen würdest” or “kämest”. That would work, too… sounds a bit less assured.
I love what you did with this article, that you integrated the exercise in it. Your articles are superb, but they lack further knowledge application into practise. For example, when I read your article, I get the point what you mean. But the info ussualy doesn’t stay permanently because I need a practical side (exercise) to make it stay permanently. Danke schon!
Hallo!
Können Sie mir bitte erklären, warum in den Nebensätze von Aufgaben 10 und 16 das Verb nicht im Ende steht?
Kann es nicht “Ich würde nicht so viel Fastfood essen, wenn ich Zeit zu kochen hätte” sein?
Und etwas ähnlich mit “Ich fände es super, wenn der Sommer dieses Jahr nicht so schlecht wie letztes Jahr wäre“.
Ja, das geht beides. “zu”-Sätze und Vergleiche mit “als” oder “wie” werden normalerweise wie ein extra Nebensatz behandelt, aber wenn sie sehr kurz sind, dann kann man sie auch integrieren.
Hilft das?
I was a bit confused with the same issue, and, additionally (maybe kinda silly) I have no clue why doesn’t nicht stand next to the verb as in:
Ich fände es super, wenn der Sommer dieses Jahr
nichtso schlecht wie letztes Jahr nicht wärebecause as I read in one of previous grammar-related chapters, negation words always (well, in vast majority of cases) stand next to the object they negate. In this case nicht, I believe, negates the verb (wouldn’t be so bad as …)
You can’t judge what gets negated by looking at the order in the English sentence. What matters is the message. What gets negated in “wouldn’t be so bad” is “will be so bad”. The entire block.
You can back test this by replacing the negated element with something else.
“wouldn’t suck as much as 2020.” – this works.
But try replacing just “wouldn’t” and leaving “be not so bad” in it.
If you put “nicht” before “wäre” you’re SPECIFICALLY negating “wäre” but you’re not negating anything else. The rest stands.
But the point of the sentence is clearly negating the comparison.
Does that help?
I guess so. I need to think it over a bit. Anyways thanks a lot for the clarification.
Let me know if you do need more clarification :).
Hi, I just have a question about the second part of a sentence when the first part uses a conditional. Does it have to also be in conditional or not.
An example in Question 11:
Ich hätte nicht so oft Streit mit meinem Mitbewohner, wenn er abwaschen würde.
Could “wenn er abwaschen würde” be just “wenn er abwäscht” as this is what is shown sometimes, like question 7 where the answer was “Ich würde mich freuen, wenn du kommst” instead of “wenn du kommen würdest”. Thanks.
It really depends on context, so there’s no fixed “always use it” or “never use it” rule. It depends on how hypothetical that is. The coming is a real possibility, so there, both versions work. The example with the dishes is a hypothetical if-then statement, so that would be weird with just “abwäscht”. Maybe also because “abwäscht” implies future tense, while the example itself is speaking in general.
Not sure if that helps.
this answer is interesting re future tense being implied. I also have difficulties with working out when the second clause can be in konjuntiv 2
RE: Ich würde mich freuen, wenn du kommst
If I were to say, “I would be happy if you would come…”
Ich würde mich freuen, wenn du kommen wäre?
Nope! “kommen wäre” is not a grammatical construction. Have you read the articles in the series?
If not, please do, that’ll clear up a lot.
Also, do NOT compare German and English. It doesn’t matter how the English phrasing is. Get clarity over what you want to express and then phrase it in German. Anything else will lead to wrong phrasings.
Tollen Übungen ;)
Danke :)