Conjugation German: unterscheiden

The subjunctive (from the late Latin modus coniunctivus, translated as a form of sentence structure, derived from the Latin verb coniungere – to join).

The subjunctive is a special verb form that usually expresses that the action is conditional or hypothetical.

It expresses possible, probable, hypothetical, desired, dreaded or necessary actions (thus indicating the speaker’s attitude toward the action). It is a form used to express something imagined that may never happen. In particular, it marks the utterance as subjective, doubtful or uncertain.

In German, there is the subjunctive I and the subjunctive II.

The subjunctive I includes the present subjunctive (e.g. er sei, er habe), the future subjunctive and the perfect subjunctive.

The subjunctive I usually expresses someone else’s opinion, often unlikely from the speaker’s point of view (present indicative: Er sagt, dass niemand zu Hause ist. – He says that no one is at home. X present subjunctive: Er sagt, dass niemand zu Hause sei. – He says that (supposedly) no one is at home.).

The subjunctive II includes the past subjunctive (er wäre, er hätte) and the past perfect subjunctive.

The imperative (from the Latin imperativus) is a verb form that expresses a command, request or prohibition. In many cases, the use of the imperative can come across as rude and impolite. Therefore, a command is often expressed in a more polite way, using other grammatical means.

The participle form (from the Latin participare – ‘to take part’) is an indefinite form of a verb that can also be used in a number of ways:

• to form compound verb tenses;
• to form the passive voice;
• as an adjective;
• as an alternative to subordinate clauses (sentence condensers);
• and others.

Participles can also be used as adjectives (participial adjectives), e.g. gekauft – gekauft(-e), verpasst – verpasst(-e), vergangen – vergangen(-e), as well as nouns (verbal nouns), e.g. griff – der Griff.