Learn how to use the German conditional past tense to talk about things that could have happened if conditions had been different
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Intermediate Series Season 2, Lesson 12. I would’ve shown you around Germany. |
| Judith: Hello, everyone. I'm Judith and welcome to GermanPod101. |
| Chuck: With us, you’ll learn to speak German with fun and effective lessons. |
| Judith: We will also provide you with cultural insights. |
| Chuck: And tips you won’t find in a text book. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about things that could have happened but didn’t. |
| Judith: Or things you could have done, could’ve seen, should’ve seen. |
| Chuck: This conversation takes place at a German home. This conversation is between Mike and his German friend. |
| Judith: They just listened to the weather forecast and now they’re commenting on it. |
| Chuck: The speakers are friends, therefore they will be speaking informal German. Don’t forget, you can leave us a comment on this lesson. |
| Judith: So if you have a question… |
| Chuck: Or some feedback… |
| Judith: Please leave us a comment… |
| Chuck: It’s very easy. Just stop by GermanPod101.com… |
| Judith: Click on ‘Comments’, enter your comment and name, and that’s it. |
| Chuck: We’re looking forward to hearing from you. Well, ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: Toll! Jetzt bleiben wir zuhause, oder? |
| D: Ja, leider scheint es so. Es ist wirklich schade. Ich hätte dir gerne die Stadt gezeigt. |
| A: Das geht auch noch morgen oder übermorgen. |
| D: Hast du nicht gehört? Es wird jetzt kalt in Deutschland. Bis jetzt war es angenehm warm... |
| A: Dann sehe ich die Stadt später. Mach dir keine Sorgen! |
| D: Es wäre toll, wenn es wärmer geworden wäre, anstatt kälter. Dann wären wir schwimmen gegangen, oder vielleicht hätten wir uns gesonnt... |
| A: Und wir wären vom Regen überrascht worden. |
| D: Sei nicht immer so negativ! |
| Judith: Now read slowly. |
| A: Toll! Jetzt bleiben wir zuhause, oder? |
| D: Ja, leider scheint es so. Es ist wirklich schade. Ich hätte dir gerne die Stadt gezeigt. |
| A: Das geht auch noch morgen oder übermorgen. |
| D: Hast du nicht gehört? Es wird jetzt kalt in Deutschland. Bis jetzt war es angenehm warm... |
| A: Dann sehe ich die Stadt später. Mach dir keine Sorgen! |
| D: Es wäre toll, wenn es wärmer geworden wäre, anstatt kälter. Dann wären wir schwimmen gegangen, oder vielleicht hätten wir uns gesonnt... |
| A: Und wir wären vom Regen überrascht worden. |
| D: Sei nicht immer so negativ! |
| Judith: Now with translation. |
| A: Toll! Jetzt bleiben wir zuhause, oder? |
| A: Great! Now we'll stay home, won't we? |
| D: Ja, leider scheint es so. Es ist wirklich schade. Ich hätte dir gerne die Stadt gezeigt. |
| D: Yes, unfortunately it seems that way. It really is a pity. I would have liked to show you the city |
| A: Das geht auch noch morgen oder übermorgen. |
| A: Tomorrow or day after tomorrow still works. |
| D: Hast du nicht gehört? Es wird jetzt kalt in Deutschland. Bis jetzt war es angenehm warm... |
| D: Haven't you heard? It gets cold now in Germany. Until now it has been pleasantly warm… |
| A: Dann sehe ich die Stadt später. Mach dir keine Sorgen! |
| A: Then I'll see the city later. Don't worry! |
| D: Es wäre toll, wenn es wärmer geworden wäre, anstatt kälter. Dann wären wir schwimmen gegangen, oder vielleicht hätten wir uns gesonnt... |
| D: It would have been great if it had become warmer rather than colder. Then we would have gone swimming, or maybe we would have done sun-bathing… |
| A: Und wir wären vom Regen überrascht worden. |
| A: And we would have been surprised by the rain. |
| D: Sei nicht immer so negativ! |
| D: Don't always be so negative! |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Chuck: So that’s Germans and vacations for you. Always complaining. |
| Judith: Actually that’s the American guy who’s complaining in this dialogue. Yeah, Germans on vacation. Let’s see, the top destinations are Mallorca, of course. Mallorca is almost like another German state, it’s a Spanish island in the Mediterranean sea. |
| Chuck: Ok. |
| Judith: And, of course, top destination also Northern Italy or the Garda Lake. Basically, relatively cheap location, cheap booze, a lot of sun, that kind of deal. But for those who can’t afford that, they might go to [Balkonien]. |
| Chuck: What’s that? |
| Judith: Well, it’s not a holiday destination. It’s basically if you stay in your home city, in your own apartment and you do like you’re on vacation. |
| Chuck: It’s actually not too bad of an idea because you never get to see the tourist-y stuff in your own city. |
| Judith: Yeah, but as for sunbathing and the sea, the lying on the balcony really doesn’t cut it. |
| Chuck: I guess not. Well, actually Germans really like to travel abroad, don’t they? |
| Judith: Yes, definitely. |
| Chuck: It’s called the, is it [Wanderlust]? |
| Judith: Yeah, or [Fernweh]. [Fernweh] is the longing of you to be in a different place, foreign country, far away, exotic places and… |
| Chuck: Alright. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: First word, [Leider]. |
| Chuck: Unfortunately. |
| Judith: [Leider, leider] Next, [Schade]. |
| Chuck: Oh it’s a pity. |
| Judith: [Schade, schade] Next, [Zeigen]. |
| Chuck: “To show” or “indicate”. |
| Judith: [Zeigen, zeigen] Next, [Übermorgen]. |
| Chuck: Day after tomorrow. |
| Judith: [Übermorgen, übermorgen] Next, [Hören]. |
| Chuck: “Here” or “listen”. |
| Judith: [Hören, hören] Next, [Warm]. |
| Chuck: Warm. |
| Judith: [Warm, warm] Next, [Sorge]. |
| Chuck: “Worry”, “concern”, “sorrow” or “care. |
| Judith: [Sorge, Sorge, die Sorge] this is feminine. And the plural is [Sorgen]. Next, [Anstatt]. |
| Chuck: Instead of. |
| Judith: [Anstatt, anstatt] Next, [Schwimmen]. |
| Chuck: To swim. |
| Judith: [Schwimmen, schwimmen] Next, [Sich sonnen]. |
| Chuck: To sunbathe. |
| Judith: [Sich sonnen, sich sonnen] Next, [Überrascht]. |
| Chuck: Surprised. |
| Judith: [Überrascht, überrascht] |
| Chuck: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Judith: The first word we’ll look at is [Übermorgen]. |
| Chuck: It’s “a day after tomorrow”. It’s actually one of the coolest words I know in German. It has [Über] in it and then [Morgen]. |
| Judith: Yeah and in German a funny thing you can do is [that you say] [Über-über-übermorgen] it’s like “three days away” after tomorrow. |
| Chuck: She probably doesn’t want to teach you this, but [Vorgestern] is “the day before yesterday” too so it goes the other way too. |
| Judith: Yeah, and then you can do [Vor-vorgestern], “day before day before yesterday”. |
| Chuck: Can I do [Vor-vor-vor-vor-vorgestern]? |
| Judith: Sure, but then people might lose count. |
| Chuck: I'm sure they’ll get it. |
| Judith: It’s the same thing you can do with [Urgroßvater]. In that case it works for English too. [Urgroßvater] That’s a “great grandfather”. And then you can do [Ur-Ur-Ur-Urgroßvater], that’s “great, great, great, great, great grandfather”. Second thing is [Sei]. In this dialogue we had [Sei]. |
| Chuck: Be! |
| Judith: Yes, it’s the informal imperative “Be!” to one person. When you’re not a first name basis with this person, you should use [Seien Sie] instead. So for formal you would use [Seien Sie still], and if you’re talking to several people, the form is [Seit still] to a whole party of friends, for example. As you can see, these forms are irregular. They are not like the typical imperative. |
| Chuck: How about we have some grammar? |
| Judith: Sure, let’s have some grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Judith: Today we should talk about might have beens. |
| Chuck: Things that could have happened in the past if conditions had been different. We use the conditional past tense. |
| Judith: Yes, conditional past tense is the official name. And in Germany that’s formed with either [Hätte]… |
| Chuck: Would have. |
| Judith: And [Wäre]… |
| Chuck: Would be. |
| Judith: Followed by the past participle. So it is basically like the perfect tense, except that you use the conditional forms of the auxiliaries. And of course you still have to decide if a verb requires a form of [Haben] or [Sein]. |
| Chuck: Could you give me some examples of that? |
| Judith: Yeah, sure. For example, [Du hättest das früher nie getan]. |
| Chuck: You would never had done that in the past. |
| Judith: So here we have [Hättest getan], this “would have done”. Or [Wir wären ins Kino gegangen]. |
| Chuck: We would have gone to the cinema. |
| Judith: You see, [Gehen] is a verb that requires the perfect tense with [Sein] so here we use [Wären]. [Wären gegangen], “would have gone”. With this tense, you often come across very complex verb forms. Here’s one that I can think of - [Wir hätten schwimmen gehen können, Wir hätten schwimmen gehen können], “We could have gone swimming”. |
| Chuck: Ah ok. |
| Judith: You start with the [Hätten], “would have”, and then [Können], “would have been able to”, [Gehen schwimmen]. And the word order is different in English. |
| Chuck: “We would have swim to go can.” |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: Well, actually “to be able to”. “We would have to swim to go to be able to “. |
| Judith: I think the listeners are getting it. |
Outro |
| Chuck: Ok. That just about does it for today. |
| Judith: Ready to test what you learned? |
| Chuck: Make this lesson’s vocabulary stick by using lesson-specific flashcards in the Learning Center. |
| Judith: There’s a reason everyone uses flashcards. |
| Chuck: That’s right, because they work. |
| Judith: They really do help memorization. |
| Chuck: You can get the flashcards for this lesson at… |
| Judith: GermanPod101.com |
| Chuck: Ok, see you next week! |
| Judith: Bis nächste Woche! |
Comments
HideHave you been to Germany? How was the weather?
Hello Edmond,
Thank you for getting back to us.
Glad you liked the lesson. Unfortunately, meeting our two audio
hosts won't be possible. It is company policy in order to avoid an unfair
advantage over other learners. 😴
If you are looking for other students in order to practice German face-to-face,
I always found the local papers helpful, and nowadays there are dedicated websites
for language exchanges too. 😉
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Yours sincerely,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Dear Chuck and Judith,
I am Edmond. I live in Eberswalde. Can I meet you guys if possible in Berlin?
Greetings
Edmond
Hello Juan Carlos,
Thank you for posting. 👍
As to your "Zusammenfassung":
Jetzt wird es kälter in Deutschland. Irmgard wollte Mike die Stadt zeigen.
Wenn es wärmer gewesen wäre und sie nach draußen gehen hätten können, dann wären sie schwimmen gegangen
und hätten sich gesonnt, aber dann wären sie vom Regen überrascht worden. Nichts ist umsonst. 😉
The answer to your question is yes! Since there is a number in front, it is regarded as plural.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Hallo, ich habe eine Frage:
Wen man auf Wetter spricht, soll immer Temperatur in Plural verwenden?
Zum Beispiel:
- Sie sind heute 35 Grad im Schatten
- In der Nacht sinken die Temperaturen auf unter null Grad
Meine Zusammenfassung
Jetzt es wird kälter in Deutschland. Irmgard wäre Mike die Stadt gezeigt. Sie
wären schwimmen gegangen, oder hätten sie sich gesonnt. Aber, wenn es wäre wärmer
sein, und sie wären draußen gehen, wären sie vom Regen überrascht worden. Nichts
ist umsonst.
Hallo robert groulx,
Danke schön for taking the time to leave us a comment. 😇
Let us know if you have any questions.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Levente
Team GermanPod101.com
thanks for the lesson
my favorite words are Vor-vor-vor-vor-vorgestern]?
robert
Hi Dinara,
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry for the confusion. Please let me repeat the first sentence from above here:
"When talking about might-have-beens, things that could have happened in the past if conditions had been different, we use the conditional past tense."
It's not about the future, it is about the past: something that didn't happen in the past, but could have happened
under the right circumstances:
Es wäre toll, wenn es wärmer "geworden" wäre, anstatt kälter.😉
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Hello!
The speakers are talking about the things that would have been happened in the future! Why than are they using form like they are talking about the Past? Shouldnt have it been
Es wäre toll, wenn es wärmer wäre, anstatt kälter. Dann würden wir schwimmen gehen, oder vielleicht würden wir uns sonnen?
Hallo Mike,
Danke für den Kommentar und die Frage!
both "geworden" and "worden" are, with the help of the verb "sein" (to be) used to express something that has happened in the past. "geworden" is used in sentences in which there is no other verb (other than the helper verb sein) and instead a noun or adjective, "worden" is used in sentences where there is another verb before the worden. So for example
"Ich bin geboren worden" (I was born) but "Ich bin Lehrer geworden" (I became a teacher) or "Ich bin müde geworden" (I became tired).
I hope this helps!
Vielen Dank!
Clara
Team GermanPod101.com
Hi,
In the conversation one sentence uses worden and another geworden. Are they interchangeable?
Thanks
Hallo Antonio,
Danke für den Kommentar!
"Statt" und "anstatt" sind austauschbar. Man könnte sagen: "Statt ins Kino gehe ich lieber ins Theater." oder "Anstatt ins Kino gehe ich lieber ins Theater."
Vielen Dank!
Clara
Team GermanPod101.com
Hi Margie,
Thank you very much for your comment!
"Balkonien" is a word that was made up and has become a popular expression. It is based on the word "Balkon" (balcony). If a German person can't afford to go on holiday, they might say "Ich mache Urlaub auf Balkonien". That is basically a joke, meaning they will spend their holiday at home, sitting on their balcony, but making it sound like it might be an exotic island somewhere. Some people might say "Balkonia" instead of "Balkonien", but both is a made-up word and it would be used in the same way.
I hope this helps!
Vielen Dank!
Clara
Team GermanPod101.com
Hallo Olia,
Danke für den Kommentar und die Frage!
"worden" ist das Partizip Perfekt von "werden." Wäre der Satz im Präsens, hieße es "Und wir würden vom Regen überrascht werden".
Vielen Dank!
Clara
Team GermanPod101.com
*Könnten
Hallo,
sind statt und anstatt unterschiedlich?
Können Sie bitte ein Beispiel mit "anstatt" als Präposition geben?
Danke im Voraus.
Would you kindly use Balkonien in an example sentence and the word balkonia in a separate example sentence?
Hello all,
Can anyone explaine me why in this sentence "Und wir wären vom Regen überrascht worden" such structure is used? I don't understand only where "worden" come from.
Thanks in advance,
Olia
Hi Hunny,
That is an "if" clause (in German, too) and those are handled differently than a regular sentence. That is why we use the tense we use.
I hope this helps...
Regards,
Katrin
Team GermanPod101.com
Hi Katrin,
I am a bit confused when you say "We are speaking about a potential here - even though it is talking about something we could have done in the past, we do not use the verb in the past form in German for this"
However you do use perfect form of Kaufen in "Ich hätte die Lotterie gewinnen können, wenn ich ein Los gekauft hätte".
Regards,
Hunny