B1 · The subjunctive
Subjunctive II: hätte, würde
would, could, and being polite
The form for what is not the case — and the reason German politeness sounds the way it does.
At a glance
- Remember
- würde for most verbs. hätte, wäre and the modals stand alone.
- When
If and would — Here the condition decides the form, not the position on the clock.
- Form
- ich würde sagenI would say
- Signal words
- würde
- hätte
- wäre
- könnte
- müsste
- sollte
- gern
- wenn
- Trap
- Wrong:Ich würde gern einen Kaffee haben wollen.Right:Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in German. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending auxiliary verb
| I would say | ich würde sagen |
| you would say (informal) | du würdest sagen |
| he, she, it would say | er, sie, es würde sagen |
| we would say | wir würden sagen |
| you would say (plural) | ihr würdet sagen |
| they, you (formal) would say | sie, Sie würden sagen |
| I would have | ich hätte |
| you would have (informal) | du hättest |
| he, she, it would have | er, sie, es hätte |
| we would have | wir hätten |
| you would have (plural) | ihr hättet |
| they, you (formal) would have | sie, Sie hätten |
| I would be | ich wäre |
| you would be (informal) | du wärst |
| he, she, it would be | er, sie, es wäre |
| we would be | wir wären |
| you would be (plural) | ihr wärt |
| they, you (formal) would be | sie, Sie wären |
| würde plus infinitive | Ich würde das anders machen. |
| modals | könnte, müsste, dürfte, sollte, wollte |
| condition | Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich kommen. |
| past | Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, wäre ich gekommen. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
würde plus infinitive is the default form for most verbs.
Ich würde lieber zu Hause bleiben.I would rather stay at home.
haben, sein and the modals have their own one-word forms and use them.
Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee.I would like a coffee.
In an unreal condition both halves take the subjunctive.
Wenn er käme, wäre alles einfacher.If he came, everything would be simpler.
The past subjunctive is hätte or wäre plus the participle — there is only one past form.
Ich hätte dir geholfen, wenn du gefragt hättest.I would have helped you if you had asked.
Example sentences
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?Could you help me, please?
Ich hätte da eine Frage.I have a question, if I may.
An deiner Stelle würde ich absagen.In your position I would cancel.
Es wäre besser, früher zu fahren.It would be better to leave earlier.
Wenn das Wetter besser wäre, würden wir grillen.If the weather were better we would have a barbecue.
8 more example sentences
Ich würde das nicht machen.I would not do that.
Wären Sie so freundlich?Would you be so kind?
Wir müssten eigentlich früher losfahren.We really ought to set off earlier.
Das hätte ich nicht gedacht.I would not have thought that.
Wenn ich du wäre, würde ich nachfragen.If I were you I would ask.
Sie hätte fast den Zug verpasst.She almost missed the train.
Dürfte ich Sie kurz stören?Might I trouble you for a moment?
Es wäre nett, wenn du Bescheid sagen könntest.It would be nice if you could let me know.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Politeness is built from one subjunctive, not from a stack of them. Ich hätte gern is the fixed phrase for ordering something and it is three words. Adding würde and wollen on top does not make it politer — it makes it laboured, which in German is its own kind of impolite.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Konjunktiv II marks something as unreal: a condition that is not met, a wish, a piece of advice, a polite request. Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich mitkommen — I do not have time, so I am not coming.
Most verbs form it with würde plus the infinitive, and that is the form to use by default: ich würde sagen, wir würden kommen. A short list of very common verbs has its own one-word form instead, and using würde with those sounds clumsy: hätte, wäre, könnte, müsste, würde, sollte, wollte, dürfte, wüsste, ginge.
The polite use is the one that matters daily. Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee rather than ich will; könnten Sie mir helfen rather than können Sie. It is exactly the English move from "can you" to "could you", and it is expected rather than optional in a shop or an office.
A closer look
Why würde exists at all
Every German verb has a one-word Konjunktiv II, formed from the simple past with an umlaut: ging gives ginge, kam gives käme. The problem is that for weak verbs it is identical to the simple past — machte is both — so the form cannot be heard as a subjunctive at all.
Würde solved that, and then spread beyond the verbs that needed it. Today the one-word forms survive for the handful of verbs frequent enough to have protected them, and würde covers everything else. A learner does not need käme or ginge to speak correct German; they need them to read a novel.
Exceptions and special cases2
Exception
When the verb is haben, sein or a modal
then use the one-word form; würde with these sounds wrong.
Das wäre schön.That would be nice.
Why? These are common enough that their own forms are fully alive, and the periphrasis was never needed for them.
Exception
When the sentence is about the past
then there is only one form: hätte or wäre plus the participle.
Du hättest anrufen sollen.You should have called.
Why? German collapsed the past subjunctives into one, so the three-way English distinction between "would have", "could have" and "should have" is carried by the modal rather than by the tense.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
fast plus Konjunktiv II means "almost happened"
Ich hätte fast den Zug verpasst — I almost missed it, meaning I did not. The subjunctive is doing exactly its job: describing something that was close to being the case and was not. English uses the indicative with "almost"; German speech often does too, but the subjunctive is the careful form and the one expected in writing.
Ich wäre fast eingeschlafen.I almost fell asleep.
Worth knowing
als ob takes the subjunctive
Er tut so, als ob er nichts wüsste — the clause after als ob describes something presented as untrue, so it takes Konjunktiv II (formal writing also uses Konjunktiv I here). English "as if he knew nothing" uses a past tense for the same reason, which makes this one of the few places where the two languages line up exactly.
Sie tat so, als ob sie mich nicht gesehen hätte.She acted as if she had not seen me.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: sein · haben · werden · helfen · können · kommen · bleiben · sollen