The conditional tense

Conditional Sentences

Conditional sentences are about things which are unlikely to happen. Often they describe wishful thinking:

If I had enough money, I would buy a house.

One is just imagining what might be.


Conditional sentences typically have the following form:

Wenn ich Zeit hätte, käme ich gern mit.
(If I had the time, I would like to come with you)

i.e. a subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction wenn, expressing a condition, and a main clause, expressing the consequence.

Subjunctive 2 is used in sentences which express unreal conditions

As the most important function of subjunctive 2 in modern German is to signal a hypothetical possibility or a supposition, it is typically used in sentences which express unreal or unfulfilled conditions.

In German, conditional sentences use the subjunctive 2 in both clauses. In practice however only the most common verbs are used in this form. For other verbs, the subjunctive 2 is replaced by würde + infinitive.

Wenn ich reich wäre, würde ich einen Wagen kaufen.
If I were rich, I would buy a car

Wenn ich mehr Freizeit hätte, würde ich viel öfter ins Freibad gehen.
If I had more free time, I would go to the pool more often.

Wenn ich eine Million Euro gewinnen würde, wäre ich sehr glücklich.
If I won a million Euros, I would be very happy

Wenn es nach mehr ginge, würde ich nicht zur Schule gehen!
If it were up to me, I would not go to school!

Either the simple form or the compound form (with würde) of Konjunktiv 2 may be used. A number of verbs are best remaining in the simple form though. E.g. haben, sein, werden, kommen, geben, finden, lassen, tun, wissen, gehen


The conjunction wenn is not always required:

Hätte ich Zeit, käme ich mit
Sonst würde ich das Fenster nicht aufmachen