German Grammatical Moods: Indicative, Imperative, Subjunctive

In German grammar, there are three major moods and they outline the purpose of a sentence. The mood of a sentence can indicate a lot about the speaker’s intention.

What indicates a German mood is the form of the verb in a sentence. This form indicates whether what’s being expressed is a fact, a command, a wish or an uncertainty, all of which I’ve covered below.

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1. The Indicative Mood

The purpose of the indicative mood ( der Indikativ ) is simply to make a statement of fact or to ask a question.

For example, the sentences here are simply stating facts and are known as declarative statements.:

Josef singt jeden Tag. (Joseph sings every day.)

Ich habe jeden Tag um 18 Uhr Deutschunterricht. (I have German classes every day at 6 pm.)

But the following sentences are questions, also known as interrogative statements:

Singt Josef jeden Tag? (Does Joseph sing every day?)

Wann hast du Deutschunterricht? (When do you have German class?)

For simplicity, these examples are in the present tense. But it’s also possible for the verb to take the past or future tense. In short, the verb can be in any tense form in the indicative mood, as long as the sentence is expressing a fact, a question or an opinion.

How to Form a Sentence in the Indicative Mood

In a declarative statement, the verb comes after the subject.

Ich denke, dass er sehr unhöflich ist. (I think that he is very rude.)

Sie war wütend. (She was angry.)

Der Kuchen ist zu süß. (The cake is too sweet.)

In an interrogative statement, however, the verb stands conjugated in the first position.

Denkst du, dass er sehr unhöflich ist? (Do you think that he is rude?)

War sie wütend? (Was she angry?)

Ist der Kuchen zu süß? (Is the cake too sweet?)

To get a better grasp of German sentence structure, you can use FluentU to study how native speakers use the language.

2. The Imperative Mood

The imperative mood ( der Imperativ ) is used to give instructions or a command.

The tense in the imperative mood is always the present tense and is mostly used for “you” (Sie/du — second person formal and informal) and “you all” (ihr — second person plural), as a command/instruction can be given only to a second person and not to oneself, or a third person.

For example:

Geh ins Bett! (Go to bed! — using du, or informal “you”)

Schließen Sie nicht die Tür! (Don’t close the door! — using Sie, or formal “you”)

Macht die Hausaufgaben! (Do the homework! — using ihr, or plural informal “you”)

Ess dein Brot! (Eat your bread! — using du)

Schlaft um 10! (Sleep at 10! — using ihr)

How to Form a Sentence in the Imperative Mood

The verb is conjugated and placed in the first position. This conjugation pattern is done for the du, Sie and ihr forms only.

For the du form, the “st” is taken out from the present tense conjugation to form the imperative. For example, if we have the verb machen (to do), the du imperative would be mach (as machst is the present tense conjugation of machen). The word du doesn’t appear in the imperative command.

Mach die Hausaufgaben! (Do the homework!)

Geh ins Bett! (Go to bed!)

For the Sie form, we keep the verb as it is in simple present tense. The word Sie also appears in the statement.

Machen Sie die Hausaufgaben! (Do the homework!)

Gehen Sie ins Bett! (Go to bed!)

Note: Often, in the Sie form—since one is either speaking more formally or addressing an elderly person—to add a bit of politeness, a bitte (please) is added to the sentence.

Machen Sie bitte die Hausaufgaben! (Please do the homework!)

Gehen Sie bitte ins Bett! (Please go to bed!)

For the ihr form, where the imperative sentence is usually addressed to multiple children or a group of people with whom you’re on informal terms, the verb takes the same form as the simple present tense. The word ihr doesn’t appear in the sentence.

Macht die Hausaufgaben! (Do the homework!)

Geht ins Bett! (Go to bed!)

3. The Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is known as Konjunktiv II in German (Konjunktiv I is a very different grammatical matter). The subjunctive is a mood used to express a hypothesis, a wish, something unreal or a regret.

For example:

Ich würde es nicht machen. (I would not do it.) [Regret]

Er würde den Film sehen. (He would see the movie.) [Hypothesis]

Wir würden gern einkaufen gehen. (We would like to go shopping.) [Wish]

How to Form a Sentence in the Subjunctive Mood

In the subjunctive mood, we always have two verbs.

One verb is the subjunctive verb, also known as the helping or auxiliary verb. It’s conjugated based on the subject and is usually in the second position of the sentence.

The second verb remains in its infinitive form and is placed at the end of the sentence.

The easiest way to use the subjunctive mood is to use the infinitive form of the verb, along with conjugated forms of würden (would), like in the sentences above.

Modal Verbs in the Subjunctive

If modal verbs are used, then a “t” is added to the stem:

• können (can) becomes könnten
• sollen (should) becomes sollten
• wollen (want) becomes wollten
• dürfen (may, for permission) becomes dürften
• müssen (must) becomes müssten

These then follow a similar sentence structure.

Du könntest mehr lernen. (You could learn more.) [Hypothesis]

Er wollte neue Schuhe kaufen. (He wanted to buy new shoes.) [Wish]

Ich sollte den Bus nehmen, jetzt bin ich verspätet! (I should have taken the bus, now I am late!) [Regret]

Verbs Sein and Haben in the Subjunctive

As is typically the case, the verbs sein (to be) and haben (to have) follow slightly different conjugation patterns in the subjunctive. The stems of these verbs are also changed.

• sein → wären (Konjunktiv II form)
• haben → hätten (Konjunktiv II form)

The sentence structure remains similar: the helping verbs wären and hätten will take up the second position of the sentence. It’s common for these subjunctive verbs to be used in the conditional tense (suggesting an if-then relationship).

Wenn ich Millionär wäre, würde ich ein großes Haus kaufen.
(If I were a millionaire, I would buy a big house.) [Wish]

Wenn ich mehr Zeit hätte, könnte ich meine Hobbys üben.
(If I had more time, I would practice my hobbies). [Wish]

Wir hätten mehr Zeit rumzugehen.
(We would have had more time to walk around). [Hypothesis]

Tips for Practicing German Moods

Getting your German verb basics firm and strong first will help you dive into learning the moods of German.

So in the beginning, spend a good chunk of time becoming confident with the indicative mood. Get a good grasp of basic regular and irregular German verb conjugations. The other German moods will come much more easily to you.

To truly master German moods, you must use and by see them in action. In order to continuously practice these moods, it helps to think of and see situations where they could be used.

A good way to practice the moods in general is by reading a lot of Märchen, or German fairy tales, as well as other Kurzgeschichten, or short stories.

Some specific texts or audio can also be good when focusing on certain moods. For example, to practice indicative interrogative statements, you can check out German-language interviews. For the imperative mood, you can browse through some German-language instruction manuals.

Another good way to practice the moods is to use online exercises.

With a bit of study, you’ll get the hang of German moods in no time!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)