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Conditional tenseWhat is the 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.

Part of GermanGrammar

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 飞眉谤诲别-, which comes from the verb werden. This is then used together with the main verb in the , which is placed at the end of the sentence or main .

The good news is that it looks a lot like the future tense.

UseGermanEnglish
FutureA fact that will definitely happenich werde ein Auto kaufenI will buy a car
ConditionalA fact that might happenich 飞眉谤诲别 ein Auto kaufenI would buy a car
Future
UseA fact that will definitely happen
Germanich werde ein Auto kaufen
EnglishI will buy a car
Conditional
UseA fact that might happen
Germanich 飞眉谤诲别 ein Auto kaufen
EnglishI would buy a car

Like all German verbs, the ending of 飞眉谤诲别- changes depending on the of the verb. Here are the forms needed for the conditional tense:

  • ich w眉rde 鈥 I would
  • du w眉rdest 鈥 you would
  • er w眉rde 鈥 he would
  • sie w眉rde 鈥 she would
  • wir w眉rden 鈥 we would
  • ihr w眉rdet 鈥 you (pl.) would
  • Sie w眉rden 鈥 you (f.) would
  • sie w眉rden 鈥 they would