Genau
Topic test · B1

Konjunktiv II test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

Wenn ich Zeit , würde ich kommen.

If I had time, I would come.

hätte. haben is one of the eight exceptions — it has its own Konjunktiv II form and is not built with würde.

Sie mir bitte helfen?

Could you help me?

Könnten. Both are grammatical, but Können Sie sounds blunt. In Germany requests are made with Konjunktiv II.

Ich gern einen Kaffee.

A coffee, please.

hätte. Ich hätte gern … is the standard pattern for asking for something in Germany. Ich will is not wrong, but it comes across as rude.

Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, ich gekommen.

If I had had time, I would have come.

wäre. Past Konjunktiv II = hätte/wäre + Partizip II. kommen is a verb of movement → it takes wäre. würde is not used for the past.

Which one is wrong?

Ich würde froh sein. sein does not take würde — it becomes wäre. The third sentence is correct: kaufen is not on the exception list.

Du es mir sagen sollen.

You should have told me.

hättest. A reproach about the past with a modal: hätte + infinitive + modal infinitive. Learn the pattern as it stands — it turns up all the time in conversation.

Wenn ich reich , würde ich viel reisen.

If I were rich, I would travel a lot.

The Konjunktiv II of sein is wäre. hätte would mean “if I had riches”; here it is a state, not possession.

Which one means “If I were you, I’d go”?

The phrase is an deiner Stelle — an + Dativ. Because it opens the sentence, the verb comes second: würde ich.

Wenn ich nur mehr Zeit !

If only I had more time!

An unfulfilled wish needs Konjunktiv II: hätte. habe is present tense and hatte is past — both state facts rather than wishes.

Which one means “If only you had come”?

Regret about the past uses the past form of Konjunktiv II. kommen is a verb of movement, so the auxiliary is sein → wärst, not hättest.

Ich würde gerne einen Kaffee.

I’d like a coffee (polite request)

You do hear it in speech, but it is incomplete: in a wish with Konjunktiv II the main verb is missing. Correct: Ich hätte gerne einen Kaffee. or Ich würde gerne einen Kaffee trinken.

Wenn ich Zeit , …

If I had time…

The Konjunktiv II of haben is hätte.

Build the sentence: He would help me.

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

When the auxiliary würde is used, the main verb goes to the end as an infinitive.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. Memorise hätte and wäre, use würde for the rest

    haben → hätte, sein → wäre and the modals (könnte · müsste · sollte) use their own Konjunktiv II forms. Every other verb takes würde + infinitive.

    Ich hätte Zeit. · Ich wäre froh. · Ich würde kommen.

  2. In a conditional both halves take Konjunktiv

    Both the wenn side and the main clause stand in Konjunktiv II. It is the exact counterpart of the English “if I had … I would come”.

    Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich kommen.

  3. Politeness is built with Konjunktiv

    In requests the plain form sounds blunt: Könnten Sie …? instead of Können Sie …?, Ich hätte gern … instead of Ich will ….

    Könnten Sie mir helfen? · Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee.

  4. For the past: hätte/wäre + Partizip II

    To talk about a past that did not happen, use hätte or wäre + Partizip II. The auxiliary is the one the verb takes in the Perfekt — verbs of movement take wäre.

    Ich wäre gekommen. · Du hättest es sagen sollen.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Wenn ich Zeit würde haben, …

    Wenn ich Zeit hätte, …

    haben and sein use their own Konjunktiv II forms; würde is not added to them.

  • Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, hätte ich gekommen.

    Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, wäre ich gekommen.

    kommen is a verb of movement and takes sein in the Perfekt — so it is wäre in Konjunktiv too.

  • Ich will einen Kaffee.

    Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee.

    The grammar is fine but the tone is blunt: in a café you sound like you are giving an order. The polite pattern is hätte gern.

  • In deiner Stelle würde ich gehen.

    An deiner Stelle würde ich gehen.

    The phrase is fixed with an + Dativ; it does not work with in.