When do you use Konjunktiv II in German?
Konjunktiv II covers hypotheticals, polite requests and wishes — the German equivalent of English would. In practice most verbs form it with würde plus the infinitive, but a small group of very common verbs have their own forms which are preferred: hätte, wäre, könnte, müsste, wüsste.
Hypotheticals and wishes
The core use is talking about things that are not the case. Both halves of a conditional take Konjunktiv II, which differs from English where the if-clause often stays in the past tense.
Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich mitkommen.
If I had time, I'd come along.
Ich wäre gern dabei.
I'd like to be there.
Ich wünschte, ich könnte helfen.
I wish I could help.
Politeness
This is where you will use it most often in daily life. Requests and offers move into Konjunktiv II to soften them, exactly as English shifts from I want to I would like.
Könnten Sie mir helfen?
Could you help me?
Softer than können Sie.
Ich hätte gern ein Bier.
I'd like a beer.
The standard way to order.
Wären Sie so freundlich…
Would you be so kind…
Würde against the real forms
For most verbs, würde plus infinitive is the normal spoken option and the real Konjunktiv II form sounds archaic — ich ginge is correct but nobody says it. For haben, sein, the modals and wissen, the opposite holds: the genuine forms are standard and würde sounds clumsy.
Ich würde gehen.
I would go.
Normal — the real form ginge is literary.
Ich hätte / Ich wäre
I would have / I would be
Always the real form, never würde haben.
Ich könnte / müsste / wüsste
I could / would have to / would know
Common mistakes
Ich würde haben Zeit.
Ich hätte Zeit.
Haben has its own Konjunktiv II form and it is the one used. Würde haben is not idiomatic.
Wenn ich Zeit hätte, komme ich mit.
Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich mitkommen.
Both halves of a hypothetical take Konjunktiv II. The present indicative in the second half breaks the conditional.
Können Sie mir helfen? (in a formal request)
Könnten Sie mir helfen?
Grammatical, but noticeably blunter. Konjunktiv II is what makes a request polite.
Frequently asked questions
When should I use würde and when the real form?
Use the real form for haben, sein, werden, the modals and wissen — those are standard and expected. Use würde plus infinitive for essentially everything else, because the genuine forms of ordinary verbs sound literary.
Is Konjunktiv II the same as the subjunctive in Spanish or French?
Related historically but used quite differently. German Konjunktiv II is mostly about hypotheticals and politeness, while the Romance subjunctive is triggered by particular verbs and conjunctions in the main clause.
What about Konjunktiv I?
It marks reported speech and appears mainly in journalism — er sagte, er sei krank. You need to recognise it to read news, but you will rarely need to produce it in conversation.