Language/German/Grammar/Conditional-Mood

Conditional Tense in German

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Hello everybody,

In today's lesson you will learn some useful vocabulary about ¨CONDITIONAL TENSE¨ in German

Feel free to edit this page by adding new words and expressions !

Good learning ! :)

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Some Verbs in the Conditional Tense in German

Table with the finalizations in the Conditional Tense

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Pronouns in English	Conditional Tense	Pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese
I would ...	Pronoun + würde + verb in the infinitive	Eu + verbo no condicional
You would ...	Pronoun + würdest + verb in the infinitive	Você + verbo no condicional
He would ...	Pronoun + würde + verb in the infinitive	Ele + verbo no condicional
She would ...	Pronoun + würde + verb in the infinitive	Ela + verbo no condicional
We would ...	Pronoun + würden + verb in the infinitive	Nós + verbo no condicional
You would ...	Pronoun + würdet + verb in the infinitive	Vocês + verbo no condicional
They would ...	Pronoun + würden + verb in the infinitive	Eles + verbo no condicional
They would ...	Pronoun + würden + verb in the infinitive	Elas + verbo no condicional

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Verb : To work (arbeiten)

Pronouns English	ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	GERMAN	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	Pronouns Brazilian Portuguese	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I	would work	ih kh vewr deh ahr bye tehn	Ich würde arbeiten	iCH vyyr de ar bái ten	Eu	trabalharia
You	would work	dou vewr deh stih ahr bye tehn	Du würdest arbeiten	du vyyr des ti ar bái ten	Você	trabalharia
He	would work	ehr vewr deh ahr bye tehn	Er würde arbeiten	ér vyyr de ar bái ten	Ele	trabalharia
She	would work	zee vewr deh ahr bye tehn	sie würde arbeiten	zii vyyr de ar bái ten	Ela	trabalharia
We	would work	vee uhr vewr dehn ahr bye tehn	Wir würden arbeiten	víâr vyyr den ar bái ten	Nós	trabalharíamos
You	would work (plur)	ih uhr vewr deht ahr bye tehn	Ihr würdet arbeiten	íâr vyyr det ar bái ten	Vocês	trabalhariam
They	would work (masc)	zee vewr dehn ahr bye tehn	Sie würden arbeiten	zii vyyr den ar bái ten	Eles	trabalhariam
They	would work (fem)	zee vewr dehn ahr bye tehn	Sie würden arbeiten	zii vyyr den ar bái ten	Elas	Elas trabalham

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Verb : To buy (kaufen)

Pronouns English	ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	GERMAN	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	Pronouns Brazilian Portuguese	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I	would buy	ih kh vewr deh cow fehn	Ich würde kaufen	iCH vyyr de káu fen	Eu	compraria
You	would buy	dou vewr deh stih cow fehn	Du würdest kaufen	du vyyr des ti káu fen	Você	compraria
He	would buy	ehr vewr deh cow fehn	Er würde kaufen	ér vyyr de káu fen	Ele	compraria
She	would buy	zee vewr deh cow fehn	sie würde kaufen	zii vyyr de káu fen	Ela	compraria
We	would buy	vee uhr vewr dehn cow fehn	Wir würden kaufen	víâr vyyr den káu fen	Nós	compraríamos
You	would buy (plur)	ih uhr vewr deht cow fehn	Ihr würdet kaufen	íâr vyyr det káu fen	Vocês	comprariam
They	would buy (masc)	zee vewr dehn cow fehn	Sie würden kaufen	zii vyyr den káu fen	Eles	comprariam
They	would buy (fem)	zee vewr dehn cow fehn	Sie würden kaufen	zii vyyr den káu fen	Elas	comprariam

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Verb : To come (ankommen)

Pronouns English	ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	GERMAN	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	Pronouns Brazilian Portuguese	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I	would come	ih kh vewr deh ahn koh mehn	Ich würde ankommen	iCH vyyr de an kó men	Eu	viria
You	would come	dou vewr deh stih ahn koh mehn	Du würdest ankommen	du vyyr des ti an kó men	Você	viria
He	would come	ehr vewr deh ahn koh mehn	Er würde ankommen	ér vyyr de an kó men	Ele	viria
She	would come	zee vewr deh ahn koh mehn	sie würde ankommen	zii vyyr de an kó men	Ela	viria
We	would come	vee uhr vewr dehn ahn koh mehn	Wir würden ankommen	víâr vyyr den an kó men	Nós	viriamos
You	would come (plur)	ih uhr vewr deht ahn koh mehn	Ihr würdet ankommen	íâr vyyr det an kó men	Vocês	viriam
They	would come (mas)	zee vewr dehn ahn koh mehn	Sie würden ankommen	zii vyyr den an kó men	Eles	viriam
They	would come (fem)	zee vewr dehn ahn koh mehn	Sie würden ankommen	zii vyyr den an kó men	Elas	viriam

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Verb : To help (helfen)

Pronouns English	ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	GERMAN	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	Pronouns Brazilian Portuguese	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I	would help	ih kh vewr deh hehl fehn	Ich würde helfen	iCH vyyr de HéL fen	Eu	ajudaria
You	would help	dou vewr deh stih hehl fehn	Du würdest helfen	du vyyr des ti HéL fen	Você	ajudaria
He	would help	ehr vewr deh hehl fehn	Er würde helfen	ér vyyr de HéL fen	Ele	ajudaria
She	would help	zee vewr deh hehl fehn	sie würde helfen	zii vyyr de HéL fen	Ela	ajudaria
We	would help	vee uhr vewr dehn hehl fehn	Wir würden helfen	víâr vyyr den HéL fen	Nós	ajudariamos
You	would help (plur)	ih uhr vewr deht hehl fehn	Ihr würdet helfen	íâr vyyr det HéL fen	Vocês	ajudariam
They	would help (mas)	zee vewr dehn hehl fehn	Sie würden helfen	zii vyyr den HéL fen	Eles	ajudariam
They	would help (fem)	zee vewr dehn hehl fehn	Sie würden helfen	zii vyyr den HéL fen	Elas	ajudariam

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Verb : To let (lassen)

Pronouns English	ENGLISH	PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH	GERMAN	PRONUNCIATION BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE	Pronouns Brazilian Portuguese	BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE
I	would let	ih kh vewr deh lah sehn	Ich würde lassen	iCH vyyr de lá sen	Eu	deixaria
You	would let	dou vewr deh stih lah sehn	Du würdest lassen	du vyyr des ti lá sen	Você	deixaria
He	would let	ehr vewr deh lah sehn	Er würde lassen	ér vyyr de lá sen	Ele	deixaria
She	would let	zee vewr deh lah sehn	sie würde lassen	zii vyyr de lá sen	Ela	deixaria
We	would let	vee uhr vewr dehn lah sehn	Wir würden lassen	víâr vyyr den lá sen	Nós	deixariamos
You	would let (plur)	ih uhr vewr deht lah sehn	Ihr würdet lassen	íâr vyyr det lá sen	Vocês	deixariam
They	would let (mas)	zee vewr dehn lah sehn	Sie würden lassen	zii vyyr den lá sen	Eles	deixariam
They	would let (fem)	zee vewr dehn lah sehn	Sie würden lassen	zii vyyr den lá sen	Elas	deixariam

Hi German learners!

In today's lesson we are going to learn about the Conditional Tense in the German language.

The conditional tense is called "Konjunktiv II (zwei)" in German.

It is used to talk about things that are pure hypothetical.

Note that there are two ways to form the conditional tense. The first one is a real verbal form, #the second one is perphrastic:

• "Ich sänge" is the real verbal form: I would sing.
• "Ich würde singen" is the periphrastic form.

There is no difference in meaning. But there can be a difference in style. The simple form belong often rather to formal speech. With some verbs though, the simple form ist quite common. You can see the most common simple forms her. The verbs "sein, werden und haben" have very common conditional forms. Notice that these forms can quite simply be derived from the past tenses of the verbs by adding umlauts: ich war becomes ich wäre and so forth.

With "spielen" and "essen", the table below shows the perphrastic form:

Conditional of "werden" plus infintive of the verb.

Notice the simple form, which can again be created by umlauting the past form. "ich spielte" becomes "ich spielte". There is just no umlaut for "ie"! This is a major problem of the simple form. If there is no legal way to umlaut the stem vowel, the form just doesn't change. With "essen" you have the past tense "ich aß". This allows an umlaut and will yield "ich äße". The form is theoretically correct and you can use is. But be warned: Unless you are Goethe or you are writing a formal essay, you will either get misunderstanding or laughter. The form is not really used. Instead, we say "Ich würde essen".

Things are never simple in German. In writing, a sentence this to many "würde" sounds clumsy. So use "würde" with care. As a rule of thumb, use the simple forms for "sein, haben, werden" and the periphrastic form for all the rest.

We are have a conditional form of the past. Take the compound past form and put the auxilliary in the conditional. "Ich habe gegessen" becomes "ich hätte gegessen", "Ich war gewesen" becomes "ich wäre gewesen". If you feel extremely confident about your German, try to figure out some passive forms: "ich bin gefragt worden" becomes "ich wäre gefragt worden" and so on.