Konjunktiv I vs. Konjunktiv II in Reported Speech

At its heart, this grammar is about neutrality. When you use the Indikativ, you're stating a fact. When you use Konjunktiv I, you're reporting hearsay. You're basically saying, "Hey, don't shoot the messenger!" It acts as a safety net for your own credibility. If your boss says the company is profitable, you use Konjunktiv I. If it turns out they lied, you're safe. You didn't claim it was true. You just reported their words. It's like a grammar traffic light. Green means fact, yellow means "they said so." We use Konjunktiv II only when Konjunktiv I fails us. If the reported form looks identical to the normal present tense, we switch. It's the ultimate backup plan for clarity. No one wants a confusing sentence during a job interview.

1. 1Start with the infinitive verb stem. For machen, the stem is mach-.
2. 2Add the specific Konjunktiv I endings to that stem.
3. 3The endings are: -e (ich), -est (du), -e (er/sie/es), -en (wir), -et (ihr), -en (sie/Sie).
4. 4Notice that the er/sie/es form is always different from the Indikativ.
5. 5Watch the irregular verb sein. It becomes sei, seiest, sei, seien, seiet, seien.
6. 6For past tense, use the auxiliary haben or sein in Konjunktiv I plus Partizip II.
7. 7Future tense uses werden in Konjunktiv I plus the infinitive.
8. 8If the Konjunktiv I form looks like the Indikativ, use Konjunktiv II instead.
9. 9For example, sie haben (Indikativ) becomes sie hätten (Konjunktiv II) to avoid confusion.

You'll mostly see this in the news. Journalists love it because it keeps them objective. Use it when summarizing a speech or an interview. It's essential for academic writing when citing other researchers. Imagine you're writing a report for a high-stakes business meeting. Using Konjunktiv I shows you are precise and professional. It's also great for relaying messages from a third party. "She said she's coming later" sounds much better as Sie sagte, sie komme später. You can use it in formal emails too. It adds a layer of politeness and distance. Think of it as the "professional mode" for your German. It’s perfect for situations where accuracy is king.

Don't use this at a casual Friday night party. Your friends will think you're reading a newspaper out loud! In daily conversation, Germans usually just use dass with the Indikativ. Or they might use Konjunktiv II if they doubt the statement. Avoid it when you want to agree with the speaker completely. Using Konjunktiv I can sometimes imply you're keeping your distance. If your best friend says they're happy, just say Er hat gesagt, dass er glücklich ist. Don't overcomplicate your coffee dates with high-level journalism grammar. Keep it for the boardroom, not the bar. It's like wearing a tuxedo to a backyard BBQ. You'll look great, but it’s definitely the wrong vibe.

The biggest trap is using the wrong person's perspective. Always keep the tense relative to the original statement. If they said "I am hungry," you say "He said he sei hungry." Don't switch to past tense just because the reporting happened yesterday. Another classic is forgetting the sein irregularities. Er ist becomes er sei, not er ise. Many learners also forget to switch to Konjunktiv II when forms overlap. If you say sie sagen, is it a fact or a report? No one knows! Use sie sagten or sie würden sagen to be safe. Also, don't confuse Konjunktiv I with the command form (Imperativ). They look similar but have totally different jobs. Practice makes perfect, even if your brain feels like a twisted pretzel.

Let's compare this with Konjunktiv II. Usually, Konjunktiv II is for dreams and "what ifs." In reported speech, it's just the emergency backup. Konjunktiv I is the primary choice for neutral reporting. Indikativ is for facts you personally vouch for. If you say Er sagt, er ist krank, you believe him. If you say Er sagt, er sei krank, you're just relaying the info. There's also the würde + infinitive construction. This is a form of Konjunktiv II often used in speech. It's much more common in spoken German than the "pure" Konjunktiv I. Think of Konjunktiv I as the formal written law. Think of Konjunktiv II as the flexible spoken rule. Both report speech, but their "flavor" is very different.