The subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood is avoided in modern English by many English speakers, in many instances. But German is different. The subjunctive mood is still an important part of the language and needs to be carefully considered in order to write good German sentences.

Subjunctive conjugations

There are two basic conjugations in the German subjunctive: One is called subjunctive I or the present subjunctive and the other is called subjunctive II or the past subjunctive. The terms subjunctive I and subjunctive II will be used here.

The following conjugational endings are basic to both forms of the subjunctive:

ich -e                   wir -en

du -est                 ihr -et

er/sie/es -e        Sie/sie -en

But subjunctive I applies them to the stem of the infinitive, and subjunctive II applies them to a past tense form. Let’s look at some examples:

Suchen (to look for) is a regular verb. The subjunctive I conjugation has only
a slight difference from the indicative present tense conjugation. And subjunctive II is identical to the indicative past tense conjugation:                      
                               SUBJUNCTIVE I              SUBJUNCTIVE II

ich

suche

suchte

du	suchest	suchtest
er	suche	suchte
wir	suchen	suchten
ihr	suchet	suchtet
sie	suchen	suchten

Laufen (to run) is an irregular verb. Both subjunctive I and II are different in some degree from the indicative conjugation:

                               SUBJUNCTIVE I              SUBJUNCTIVE II

ich	laufe	liefe
du	laufest	liefest
er	laufe	liefe
wir	laufen	liefen
ihr	laufet	liefet
sie	laufen	liefen

Kommen (to come) is also an irregular verb. But its irregular past tense form (kam) has an
umlaut vowel (a, o, u). When an irregular verb has an umlaut vowel, its subjunctive II forms will require an umlaut:
                                  SUBJUNCTIVE I              SUBJUNCTIVE II

ich	komme	käme
du	kommest	kämest
er	komme	käme
wir	kommen	kämen
ihr	kommet	kämet
sie	kommen	kämen

Kennen (to know) is an irregular verb that has a vowel change in the past tense and also has the past tense suffix -te (kannte). When this verb is conjugated in subjunctive II, the vowel change is avoided. This also occurs with other verbs in this category, such as nennen (to name) and brennen (to burn):
                                   SUBJUNCTIVE I              SUBJUNCTIVE II

ich	kenne	kennte
du	kennest	kenntest
er	kenne	kennte
wir	kennen	kennten
ihr	kennet	kenntet
sie	kennen	kennten

Denken (to think) is another irregular verb that has a vowel change in the past tense and also has the past tense suffix -te (dachte). When this verb is conjugated in subjunctive II, the vowel change is maintained and an umlaut is added. This also occurs with other verbs in this category, such as bringen (to bring) and wissen (to know):

                                              SUBJUNCTIVE I                  SUBJUNCTIVE II

ich	denke	dächte
du	denkest	dächtest
er	denke	dächte
wir	denken	dächten
ihr	denket	dächtet
sie	denken	dächten

Modals and the umlaut
Müssen (to have to) and other modal auxiliaries that have an umlaut in the infinitive keep the umlaut in subjunctive II. Modals that do not have an umlaut in the infinitive, e.g., wollen (to want), do not have one in subjunctive II:
                                   SUBJUNCTIVE I                          SUBJUNCTIVE II

ich	müsse müsste	wolle wollte
du	müssest müsstest	wollest wolltest
er	müsse müsste	wolle wollte
wir	müssen müssten	wollen wollten
ihr	müsset müsstet	wollet wolltet
sie	müssen müssten	wollen wollten

The auxiliaries sein (to be), haben (to have), and werden (shall, will) play an important role
in tense formation. Let’s look at their subjunctive I and II conjugations:
                            SUBJUNCTIVE I                              SUBJUNCTIVE II

ich	sei wäre	habe hätte
du	seiest wärest	habest hättest
er	sei wäre	habe hätte
wir	seien wären	haben hätten
ihr	seiet wäret	habet hättet
sie	seien wären	haben hätten

Indirect discourse
Indirect discourse is the retelling of what someone else has said or asked. In spoken German, there is a tendency to use a subjunctive II conjugation in indirect discourse:
Er sagte, dass Frau Schmidt krank wäre.     He said that Ms. Schmidt was sick.
But in written German, sentences in indirect discourse more frequently conjugate verbs in
subjunctive I:
Er sagte, dass Frau Schmidt krank sei.         He said that Ms. Schmidt was sick.

This use of the subjunctive I and subjunctive II conjugations occurs with both indirect discourse and indirect questions. For example:
Der Redner sagte, dass der globale                The speaker said that global warming was still
Temperaturanstieg noch ein                              a problem.
Problem sei.
Die Zeitung berichtete, dass der                     The newspaper reported that the president
Präsident nach Berlin fliegen werde.             would fly to Berlin.
Herr Benz fragte, ob ihre Mannschaft           Mr. Benz asked whether their team had won.
gewonnen habe.
sagen + dass + subjunctive I verb → indirect discourse
fragen + ob + subjunctive I verb → indirect question
When the subjunctive I conjugation is identical to the indicative present tense (for the verb haben, for instance, where the subjunctive I, wir haben, is identical to the indicative, wir haben), use the subjunctive II conjugation (wir hätten) in place of the subjunctive I conjugation. For example:
Karl erzählte, dass die Kinder im Garten      Karl said that the children were playing in
(spielen) spielten.                                               the garden.
Sie fragte, ob sie genug Geld (haben)            She asked whether they had enough money.
hätten.
Use ob (whether, if) to introduce indirect discourse questions that can be answered with ja
or nein:
Kann er verstehen? (Ja, er kann verstehen.)    Can he understand? (Yes, he can understand.)
Erik fragte, ob er verstehen könne.                    Erik asked whether he could understand.
If a question is posed using an interrogative word, that interrogative word becomes the conjunction in indirect discourse and a subjunctive I conjugation is required. For example:
Wo wohnt er jetzt?
Er fragte, wo er jetzt wohne.                             He asked where he was living now.
Warum ist sie wieder krank geworden?
Er fragte, warum sie wieder krank                  He asked why she had gotten sick again.
geworden sei.
Wie viel Geld brauchen sie?
Er fragte, wie viel Geld sie brauchten.            He asked how much money they needed.
It is important to consider the tense of a verb in direct discourse. The past tense form of the
subjunctive I conjugation in indirect discourse is not identical to the indicative past tense form. For example:
Present tense:           „Er singt sehr gut.“
Indirect discourse: Sabine sagte, dass er sehr           Sabine said that he sings
                                            gut singe.                                        very well.
Past tense:                 „Er sang sehr gut.“
or
Present perfect tense: „Er hat sehr gut gesungen.“
Indirect discourse: Sabine sagte, dass er sehr           Sabine said that he had sung
                                            gut gesungen habe.                       very well.
Future tense:            „Er wird sehr gut singen.“
Indirect discourse: Sabine sagte, dass er sehr           Sabine said that he would sing
                                         gut singen werde.                             very well.
Direct discourse verbs in the past or perfect tenses are formed like present perfect conjugations when they are reported in indirect discourse:
er sang                     → er habe gesungen
er hat gesungen     → er habe gesungen
er reiste                   → er sei gereist
er ist gereist           → er sei gereist
Als ob, als wenn
The subjunctive II conjugation has another function besides being the preferred conjugation in German conversational indirect discourse. It is also used after the conjunctions als ob and als wenn (as if) and is an important element of writing good sentences:
Martin tut so, als ob er alles wüsste.              Martin acts as if he knew everything.
Sie spricht, als wenn ich ein dummes            She speaks as if I were a stupid child.
Kind wäre.  With the conjunctions als ob and als wenn, just as with other subordinating conjunctions such as dass and ob, the conjugated verb in the subordinating clause is the final element.
Wenn
 The subordinating conjunction wenn (if) also requires a verb with a subjunctive II conjugation in the clause that follows it. Again, since wenn is a subordinating conjunction, the verb in the subordinate clause will be the last element in the sentence.
  Clauses that are introduced by wenn suggest a wish and can often stand alone without a
main clause. The conjunction can be omitted from the sentence and presumed to be understood. In that case, the conjugated verb begins the sentence. For example:
Wenn wir nur mehr Geld hätten!                    If only we had more money!
Hätten wir nur mehr Geld!
Wenn er nicht so jung gestorben wäre!         If he hadn’t died so young!
Wäre er nicht so jung gestorben!
Wenn ich sie doch nicht verlassen hätte!      If only I hadn’t left her!
Hätte ich sie doch nicht verlassen!
Notice that the words doch and nur are often added to these sentences for emphasis.