A. VERBS. THE UNREAL or SUBJUNCTIVE - hätte, könnte, wäre, würde
I. at various places in our units to date.
The forms hätte (or hätten), könnte (!!.), wäre CU.) and würde (!l) have occurred
a) Ich hätte gern Rumpsteak mit Röstkartoffeln. (10) b) Hätten Sie einen Augenblick Zeit für mich? (18)
I'd 1ike steak with fried potatoes. Could you spare me a moment of your time?
c) Das grosse Bild könnten wir Uber das Sofa hängen. (7) d) Könnten wir in eurem Wagen mitfahren? (11)
We could hang the big picture over the sofa. Could we go with you in your car?
e ) Ja, das wäre nett. (12 ) f ) Am besten wäre es, Sie würden das Gesundheitsamt anrufen. (18)
Yes, that would be nice. It would be best if you were to ca11 the Boara of Health.
g) Ich wUnschte, sie ~ sich von einem Facharzt untersuchen lassen. (18) h) WUrden Sie bitte diesen Meldeschein ausfüllen? (14) i) Wenn Sie den Jungen jetzt gleich in die Sprechstunde bringen würden, könnte ihn Herr Doktor sofort behandeln. (18)
I wish she'd have herself examined by a special ist. Would you pleasc fi11 out this registration blank? If you'd bring the boy right to the office now the doctor could treat him immediately.
Notice that these verb forms are equivalent to ''would'' or "could" forms or phrases in English. They indicate 1) something desired but not yet achieved, as a polite request or suggestion, or 2) something which may not be achieved, as a wish, or 3) something possible or hypothetica1 which depends for its achievement on the fulfi11ment of an additional factor or condition. other words they indicate UNREAL situations. Por this reason they are frequently ca11ed UNREAL forms. You will also hear them referred to as SUBJUNCTIVE forms.
In
11. Hätte, könnte, wäre and ~ are UNREAL forms of the irregular verbs haben. können, sein and werden. The complete inventory of UNREAL or SUBJUNCTIVE forms for these four verbs is given be10w. AB in the Past Tense, ich- and er-forms are identica1, 1ikewise wir- and sie-forms.
These are the most common dnd most frequent UNREAL or SUBJUNCTlVE forms you will encounter in German. (Note that in rapid and informal speech the second vowe1 of wäre, wären, wärest and wä~et is often not pronounced.)
111. We have noted that UNREAL forms express basically three types of situations: 1) a polite request or suggestion, 2) a wish which the speaker may not expect to be fulfilled, or 3) a possible or hypothetical action or state which is dependent or contingent upon another action or state.
1) The following are additional examples of questions, requests and suggestions we have encountered containing UNREAL or SUBJUNCTlVE forms:
Ich hätte gern einen leichten Anzug. Jetzt würde ich noch gern die Kongresshalle sehen. Würden Sie bitte diese beiden Anzüge aufbügeln lassen? Vielleicht könnte Ihre Frau mal zu ihm in die Sprechstunde gehen. Wen würden Sie vorschlagen? Vnd das ware .,. ?
1 ' m interested in a light-weight suit. Now l'd like to see the Congress Hall tao. Would you please have these suits pressed? Perhaps your wife could go to his office sametime. Who would you suggest? And that would be ... ?
The use of hätte and würde plus gern in requests is very much like the use of möchte discussed in Unit 4. However, all four UNREAL forms - hätte, könnte, wäre and würde - frequently occur in sentences of this type, with or without an additional modifier like gern or bitte. A major function of the UNREAL is thus as a politeness formula.
2) Only one example of a wish (paragraph I,f) has occurred in the basic sentences so far. Any UNREAL form may occur in a wish sentence however.
Ich wünschte, dass du länger bleiben könntest. Ich wünschte, er wäre hier. Wir wünschten, er würde mehr Zeit für uns haben.
I wish that you could stay langer. I wish he were here. We wish he had more time for uso
Note that the special forms wünschte or wünschten introduce a wish which the speaker may not expect to be fulfilled. This type of wish sentence can be called an UNREAL WISH.
3) Here are two additional examples from the basic sentences in which UNREAL or SUBJUNCTlVE forms indicate that a possible state or action is contingent upon or conditioned by another possible state or action.
Es wäre vielleicht gut, wenn er eine Tetanusspritze bekommen würde. Es würde nichts schauen, wenn Sie Ihre Diät einhalten würden.
It would be a good thing perhaps if he were to get a tetanus shot. It wouldn't hurt a bit if you would stick to your diet.
The contingency or condition is given in a clause beginning with ~ . These sentences are called CONDITIONAL SENTENCES.
IV. CONDITIONAL SENTENCES may or may not be complete. The condition, that is, the wenn-clause, may be implied but not expressed.
Darf ich für Sie auch eine Karte besorgen? Ja, das wäre nett.
May I get you a ticket too? Yes, that would be nice.
The second sentence here may be thought of as actually equivalent to:
Es wäre nett, wenn Sie für mich auch eine Karte besorgen wÜrden.
It would be nice if you would get me a ticket too.
V. Forms of wÜrde may occur with any infinitive to form an UNREAL or SUBJUNCTlVE verb phra~The phrases wÜrde ••• haben, wÜrde ••• können and wÜrde ••• sein thus occur in German in addition to the special forms hätte, kön~änd wä~
Es wÜrde nett sein, Sie dort zu treffen. or Es wäre nett, Sie dort zu treffen.
It would be nice to meet you there.
WÜrden Sie morgen um ein Uhr Zeit für mich haben? or Hätten Sie morgen um ein Uhr Zeit für mich?
Would you have time to see me tomorrow at one o'clock?
Es wÜrde kein Problem sein, das neue Auto zu kaufen, wenn wir mehr Geld hätten. or Es wäre kein Problem, das neue Auto zu kaufen, wenn wir mehr Geld hätten.
Buying the new car would be no problem if we had more money.
Ich wÜrde morgen mit ihm sprechen können, wenn er um zehn Uhr hier wäre. or Ich könnte morgen mit ihm sprechen, wenn er um zehn Uhr hier sein wÜrde.
I would be able to talk to him tomorrow if he were here at ten o'clock. I could talk to him tomorrow if he were to be here at ten o'clock.
Notice that the phrases with würde in German are everywhere equivalent to the special UNREAL forms. SUBJUNCTlVE forms. normally use a phrase with ''would'' or "could" or a past tense form of the verb. The form ''were'' and the phrase ''were to" do occur, especially in formal style, with a singular as well as a plural subject and may thus be thought of as "subjunctive" in English, but there are very few such distinctive forms.
In English we have almost no special UNREAL or In politeness formulas or in conditional sentences we
B. PREPOSITIONS - ausser, statt, trotz, wegen
I. The preposition ausser is followed by a DATIVE form:
Ausser diesen Tabletten nehmen Sie täglich dreimal je fünfzehn Tropfen ...
In addition to these tablets take fifteen drops three times a day ...
11. The prepositions statt, trotz and wegen are followed by GENITIVE forms:
Ich schlage vor, dass Sie statt des starken Kaffees lieber etwas anderes trinken!
I suggest that you drink something else instead of that strong coffee~
Ich habe immer noch Herzbeschwerden, trotz der Kur und der Medikamente.
1 1 m still having trouble with my heart, in spite of the treatment and the medicine.
Wegen meines Herzens.
On account of my heart.
It should be noted that the preposition wegen mayaiso be preceded by the GENITIVE form associated with it:
Ich bin meines Herzens wegen hier.
I am here on account of my heart.
Together with während, noted earlier, these are the most common prepositions with the GENITIVE in German.
C. VERBS AND PREPOSITIONS
I. that had occurred up to that point as VERB-PREPOSITION COMPLEXES. Many of the verbs and prepositions we have encountered separately up to now also function as verb-preposition complexes. The most common of these additional combinations are listed as foliows:
We discussed verbs and prepositions in Units 16 and 17 and reviewed those
an arbeiten an (dative) denken an (accusative) vermieten an (accusative)
to work on to think of, bear in mind to rent out to
auf hoffen auf (accusative) hören auf (accusative) rechnen auf (accusative) umschalten auf (accusative)
to hope for to listen to, pay heed to to count on to switch over to
nach fragen nach (dative) sich erkundigen nach (dative)
to inquire after, ask for, ask about to inquire about, ask about
über beraten über (accusative) sich freuen über (accusative) denken über (accusative) schreiben über (accusative) sprechen über (accusative)
to advise on, exchange views on to be happy about to think of, have an opinion about to write about to talk about
unter verstehen unter (dative) sich vorstellen unter (dative) von denken von (dative) sprechen von (dative)
to mean by to think of as being, to think is ••• to think of to speak of, talk about
zu führen zu (dative)
to lead to
Note again that the English equivalents of these verb-preposition complexes sometimes differ considerably from the meanings of the verbs and prepositions separately. The occurrence of dative or accusative forms after the prepositions an, auf, über and unter is quite arbitrarily fixed and must be learned for each combination. In verb-preposition complexes the preposition always has an object. Remember that when the object is a pronoun referring to a human being regular pronoun forms are used, but when the object is a pronoun referring to something inanimate or abstract the special combining forms da- or dar- are used.
Ich denke an sie. Ich denke~.
IIll be thinking of her (them). IIll bear that in mind.
II. Verb-preposition complexes also occur with dependent clauses or infinitive phrases.
Er denkt daran, im Herbst nach Deutschland zu fahren. Sie rechnet damit, dass wir nächstes Jahr nach England kommen.
Hels thinking of going to Germany in the fall. She's counting on our coming to England next year.
In this construction the preposition is always combined with the special pronoun forms da- or dar-. They anticipate the dependent clause or infinitive phrase and replace it a~ object of the preposition. Notice that in English the preposition is often followed by the -inq form of the verb.
D. CONJUNCTIONS - denn
In this unit we have encountered the conjunction denn.
Ja, das werde ich bald tun, denn bei unserer gros sen Familie ist alle Augenblicke einer krank.
Yes, I'll do that soon, for with a family as large as ours therels somebody sick all the time.
Denn is a sentence connector, or co-ordinating conjunction, followed by normal word order. With aber, oder, sondern and und it completes the group of common co-ordinating conjunctions.
E. THE INDEFINITE RELATIVE PRONOUN - ~
In this unit we have encountered a new type of relative clause, introduced by the pronoun ~.
Seitdem ich zu Hause bin, strengt mich alles, ~ ich tue, sehr an.
Since lIve been home again everything I do fatigues me very much.
The INDEFINITE RELATIVE PRONOUN was introduces relative clauses referring back to the indefinite words alles, das, ~ and nichts.
Nichts, was er sagte, war richtig.
Nothing (that) he said was right.
Das ist etwas, was ich wirklich sehr empfehlen kann.
That is something (that) I can recommend very highly.
Das, was er schrieb, war sehr gut.
What he wrote was very good.
Like the question-word was it has the special combining form ~- or worafter prepositions.