B2 · The subjunctive
Wishes and regrets
Wenn ich das nur wüsste!
A wenn-clause with no main clause, plus nur or doch — a complete sentence expressing a wish.
German expresses a wish by writing the first half of a conditional and stopping: Wenn ich das nur wüsste! There is no main clause, and none is missing — the unfinished condition is the whole sentence, and the exclamation mark carries the rest.
The particles nur and doch are what make it a wish rather than an unfinished thought. Wenn er käme sounds incomplete; Wenn er nur käme! and Wenn er doch nur käme! are wishes. Both may appear together, and together they are the most emphatic form.
The tense decides whether it is still possible. The present subjunctive is a wish about now or the future — Wenn ich mehr Zeit hätte! The past subjunctive is a regret about something already over — Wenn ich das gewusst hätte! German makes the difference with the tense alone, where English needs "if only I knew" against "if only I had known".
Die Form
| Gegenwart | Wenn ich nur mehr Zeit hätte! |
| Vergangenheit | Wenn ich das nur gewusst hätte! |
| ohne wenn | Hätte ich das nur gewusst! |
| mit ich wünschte | Ich wünschte, ich wäre dort. |
| höflich | Ich hätte gern gewusst, ob … |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
A wish is a wenn-clause with no main clause.
Wenn er nur anriefe!If only he would call!
nur or doch marks it as a wish rather than an unfinished sentence.
Wenn das doch wahr wäre!If only that were true!
The wenn can be dropped and the verb comes first instead.
Wäre ich nur zu Hause geblieben!If only I had stayed at home!
Present subjunctive for now, past subjunctive for regret.
Wenn ich es wüsste! Wenn ich es gewusst hätte!If only I knew! If only I had known!
Genauer hingesehen
bloß, nur and doch
All three intensify a wish and they differ in register. Nur is neutral and works everywhere. Doch adds a note of appeal, as though arguing with reality. Bloß is colloquial and the most emphatic, and it is the one most often heard in regret: Hätte ich bloß nicht!
They stack in a fixed order — doch nur, doch bloß — and never the other way round. That order is the same one the modal particles follow elsewhere, which is one of the small consistencies that makes them learnable at all.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
-
the wish is achievable
German uses the indicative and hoffentlich.
Hoffentlich kommt er pünktlich.I hope he comes on time.
The subjunctive marks something contrary to fact; a realistic hope is not.
-
the wish is a formal request
it becomes a polite subjunctive with gern.
Ich hätte gern einen Termin.I would like an appointment.
The same forms carry politeness, as elsewhere in the subjunctive.
Woran man es erkennt
- wenn
- nur
- doch
- bloß
- hätte
- wäre
- wünschte
Beispielsätze
Wenn ich nur mehr Zeit hätte!If only I had more time!
Wenn das Wetter doch besser wäre!If only the weather were better!
Hätte ich bloß nichts gesagt!If only I had said nothing!
Ich wünschte, ich könnte helfen.I wish I could help.
Wäre er nur ehrlich gewesen!If only he had been honest!
Noch 6 Beispielsätze
Wenn ich doch nur schneller wäre!If only I were faster!
Hätten wir das früher gewusst!If only we had known sooner!
Ich wünschte, es wäre schon Freitag.I wish it were Friday already.
Wenn das bloß stimmen würde!If only that were true!
Wäre ich doch geblieben!If only I had stayed!
Hoffentlich klappt es.I hope it works.
Besonderheiten (2)
-
The verb-first form is the more literary one
Dropping the <z>wenn</z> and starting with the verb — <z>Hätte ich das gewusst!</z> — is the same move English makes in "had I known". It is more emphatic, slightly more formal, and equally common in ordinary speech when the regret is strong.
-
A wish is not a conditional missing its half
Grammatically the sentence has only one clause and is complete. Nothing needs supplying and nothing is implied — which is why it takes an exclamation mark rather than an ellipsis, and why translating it needs "if only" rather than a half sentence.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The verb itself goes into the subjunctive: wünschte, not wünsche. With the present tense the sentence reports an ordinary act of wishing, which is not what is meant — a wish about something contrary to fact needs the subjunctive in both halves. English does the same thing with "I wish I were", and for the same reason.
A wish needs nur or doch, and the subjunctive twice.
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