Subjunctive
I (Indirect Discourse)
The Subjunctive I form is used with
indirect discourse when reporting what someone says
in a formal, impartial way. The indicative can
also be used to imply a statement of fact, while the
subjunctive II can be used to imply the statement
is open to question (since subjunctive II is used
with contrary to fact statements.) These three
distinctions are quite subtle, although they are important.
In everyday conversation, the tendency is to
avoid the subjunctive I and to choose instead between
the indicative and subjunctive II.
The present tense of Subjunctive I
is derived from the present tense of the indicative
and formed by adding the following endings to the
stem of the verb. Note that the subjunctive
I forms never have the stem vowel change found in
their present indicative counterparts.
The only exception is sein, which has
no endings in the ich and er forms:
sei
seiest
sei |
seien
seiet
seien |
The past tense of Subjunctive I is
derived from the present perfect tense of the indicative.
It is composed of the subjunctive I form of
haben or sein and a past participle.
The future tense of Subjunctive I
is just like the regular future tense in the indicative.
The only difference is that werden uses the
subjunctive I forms.
The tense used in an indirect quotation
is dependent upon the tense used in the direct quotation
that underlies it. If the direct quotation is
in the present tense of the indicative, then the indirect
quotation must be in the present tense of the subjunctive
I. If the direct quotation is in any tense referring
to past time in the indicative, then the indirect
quotation is in the past tense of the subjunctive
I. (Subjunctive I only has one tense when referring
to past time, as compared to the three tenses of the
indicative.) If the direct quotation is in the
future tense, then the future tense of subjunctive
I is used.
In certain cases, the subjunctive I forms
and the indicative forms are identical. In this
case, the subjunctive II forms must be used instead.
If the original quotation is in subjunctive
II, then the indirect quotation will also be in subjunctive
II. |
