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Studied by 15 peopleGerman Conditional Tense
The conditional tense allows you to express imaginative ideas about what might, would, could and should happen in the future. It's a great way to describe your wildest dreams and fantasies.
What is the conditional tense?
The conditional tense is used to say what might happen under certain conditions.
It is called the conditional tense because it is dependent on a certain condition, eg you can only fulfil one thing on the condition that another thing happens.
How to form the conditional tense
The conditional tense is formed with the stem würde-, which comes from the verb werden. This is then used together with the main verb in the infinitive, which is placed at the end of the sentence or main clause.
The good news is that it looks a lot like the future tense
| \n | Use | German | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future | A fact that will definitely happen | ich werde ein Auto kaufen | I will buy a car |
| Conditional | A fact that might happen | ich würde ein Auto kaufen | I would buy a car |
Like all German verbs, the ending of würde- changes depending on the subject of the verb. Here are the forms needed for the conditional tense:
- ich würde – I would
- du würdest – you would
- er würde – he would
- sie würde – she would
- wir würden – we would
- ihr würdet – you (pl.) would
- Sie würden – you (f.) would
- sie würden – they would
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Look for patterns to make learning verb endings easier. For example, in the singular form, all the endings are -e except for the du form, and in the plural all the endings are -en except for the ihr form.
You can use the subordinating conjunction wenn (if/when) to extend your sentences in the conditional tense, eg:
- Ich würde ich ein Sportauto kaufen. – I would buy a sports car.
- Wenn ich viel Geld haben würde, würde ich ein Sportauto kaufen. – If I had lots of money, I would buy a sports car.
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Wenn is a subordinating conjunction (also known as a ‘verb shifter’) like weil and dass**. This means it always shifts the verb to the end of the clause.**
Would, could, should
The conditional form of the modal verbs können (to be able) and sollen (to be supposed to) can be used to describe what could or should happen.
| können | sollen |
|---|---|
| ich könnte – I could | ich sollte – I should |
| du könntest – you could | du solltest – you should |
| er/sie/es/man könnte – he/she/it could | er/sie/es/man sollte – he/she/it/one should |
| wir könnten – we could | wir sollten – they should |
| ihr könntet – you could | ihr solltet – you should |
| Sie könnten – you could | Sie sollten – you should |
| sie könnten – they could | sie sollten – they should |
These verbs are very useful for making suggestions and giving advice.
Using 'man'
Instead of saying du, Germans often prefer to say man (one, you, we), eg:
- man sollte gesund essen – one should eat healthily
Using 'es sollte…geben'
You use es gibt (there is/are) in the present tense, but to say what 'there should be' in your town or local area, use
es sollte… geben - there should be…
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