6

Can you provide examples of usage of the Future tense in the Subjunctive mood in German, both for "Futur I" and for "Futur II"?

"Konjunktiv Futur I" goes as

ich werde lieben

and it should basically refer to "I am about to love" but in a possibility/probabilistic fashion.

I can't even translate the Futur II

ich werde geliebt haben

So I'm asking if you can provide examples of sentences where these tenses are needed.

Improve this question
4
  • wait wait.. you tell us you can't translate the simple past, but want examples for when that time is used? Wouldn't you better provide a simple example yourself, your translation attempt and ask for correction??
    – Vogel612
    Commented Oct 31, 2013 at 8:55
  • Um.. What was the question again?
    – Em1
    Commented Oct 31, 2013 at 9:27
  • It was the Future II, not the Praeteritum, sorry. The question is, again, could you provide examples? I don't have these tenses in my language and I'm not aware of the same structure in English, so I don't know how to use them. Of course, I may be wrong.
    – martina.physics
    Commented Oct 31, 2013 at 9:49
  • Oh. I didn't realize that German seems to be one of the rare languages that do have a subjunctive mood in future. I now get what the question is about.
    – Em1
    Commented Oct 31, 2013 at 10:09

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
10

"Konjunktiv 1 Futur 1" is used for indirect speech where the direct speech is in "Futur 1".

Direct speech: "Ich werde nächstes Jahr nach London reisen."
               ("I'm going to travel to London next year.")
Indirect speech: Er sagte, er werde nächstes Jahr nach London reisen.
                 (He said he was going to travel to London next year.)

"Konjunktiv 1 Futur 2" is also used for indirect speech where, however, the direct speech is in "Futur 2".

Direct speech: "Nächstes Jahr um die Zeit werde ich nach London gereist sein."
               ("This time next year, I will have been to London.")
Indirect speech: Er sagte, nächstes Jahr um die Zeit werde er nach London gereist sein."
                 (He said that he will have been to London this time next year.)

In both cases you may use "Konjunktiv 2" in case

  1. you want to indicate that you think that the statement is not true.

    Er sagte,
  nächstes Jahr um die Zeit werde würde er nach London gereist sein, 
  aber ich denke, dass das nicht stimmt.
(He said 
  he would have been to London this time next year, 
  but I don't think so.)

  2. "Indikativ" and "Konjunktiv 1" are identical.

    Ich sagte: "Ich werde nächstes Jahr nach London reisen."  
  (I said: "I am going to travel to London next year.")
Ich sagte, ich werde würde nächstes Jahr nach London reisen.
  (I said I was going to travel to London next year.)

In respect to translation it's not that easy. It depends on what the target language use instead. Romance languages, for instance, do use–as far as I know–the future indicative or present subjunctive form instead.

Of course, you can also apply the "Konjunktiv 2" for unreality in direct speech:

Direct speech: "Wenn ich du wäre, würde ich nächstes Jahr nach London reisen."
               ("If I were you, I would go to London next year.")
Indirect speech: "Wenn ich du wäre,
                    würde ich bis nächstes Jahr um die Zeit nach London gereist sein."
                 ("If I were you,
                    I would have been to London this time next year.")
Improve this answer
2
  • Müsste es nicht heißten: "I said I was going to travel to London next year" ?
    – user27279
    Commented May 30, 2017 at 7:23
  • I guess so. There might be more mistakes in my English translations. -.-
    – Em1
    Commented May 30, 2017 at 7:37
1

These modes/tenses have direct English equivalents.

If Futur I is

Ich werde lieben -> I will love

then Konjunktiv Futur I is

Ich würde lieben -> I would love

It refers to a future event that's contingent on some condition. You'd use it to express a hypothesis, a qualified statement, and so on. Similarly, if Futur II is

Ich werde geliebt haben -> I will have loved

then Konjunktiv Futur II is

Ich würde geliebt haben -> I would have loved

It's used for a future event that will have completed at the time in question, contingent on some condition. While this is a common turn of phrase in English, it's rarely, if ever, spoken in German. If I were to guess, Futur II in general is too wordy.

Improve this answer
2
  • You should be precise in your answer: "Ich würde lieben" is "Konjunktiv 2 Futur 1". Same applies to your other example. It's "Konjunktiv 2 Futur 2". Also note, that when in an English sentence something like "I would have been" appears, you usually are talking about the past. "If the weather had been better, I would have been sitting in the garden when he arrived." It's past, not conditional future. Thus, to take your example, "If she had given me a chance, I probably would have loved her" -> that is past tense (sorry, cannot come up with a meaningful example with this word)
    – Em1
    Commented Oct 31, 2013 at 14:20
  • You are talking about the conditional mood, not subjunctive. What you say is true but it's not Kongiuntiv, it's Konditional, and of course the correspondence with English involves "would", which is itself the past of "will" and is used to buld the conditional mood.
    – martina.physics
    Commented Oct 31, 2013 at 14:59

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.