Learn German with LearnningTree Part 7: Prepositions and Subjunctive

Welcome back to the engaging and insightful Learn German with LearnningTree series. Today, we are exploring German prepositions and subjunctive concepts 📚🇩🇪.

1.Verbs with prepositions: sich freuen

Let’s talk about something that might seem small at first but actually makes a big difference when you’re learning German: prepositions. They’re those little words that often hang out with verbs, and when they do, they can completely change the meaning. A perfect example? The verb “sich freuen.”

It’s a reflexive verb, and what’s interesting is that it pairs with two different prepositions—and depending on which one you use, the meaning changes.

When something has already happened or is happening right now, we use:

sich über [etwas] freuen – to be happy about something

For example:

Ich freue mich über deinen Satz!I’m happy about your sentence!

You’re expressing joy about something that already exists or just happened. Maybe someone sent you a nice message or shared good news. You’re reacting to the present or the past.

Now, when something hasn’t happened yet but you're looking forward to it, we use:

sich auf [etwas] freuen – to look forward to something

Like this:

Ich freue mich auf mein Bett!I’m looking forward to my bed!

You’re not in bed yet, but the thought of it is making you happy already. It’s about anticipating something good in the future—like sleep, holidays, or even your next German lesson (maybe?).

What makes this so cool is how one simple verb changes its vibe depending on just one small word. Prepositions are powerful like that. You don’t need to learn a whole new verb to express a new idea, just tweak the preposition, and you’re set.

So next time you say you’re happy, just pause for a second. Are you happy about something now? Go with über. Are you excited about something coming up? Then auf is your buddy.

2.The subjective meaning of "wollen"

The word wollen (literally “to want”) is commonly used to express a wish or intention.

For example:

Ich will ein neues Auto.(I want a new car.)

Or

Wir wollen im Urlaub nach Spanien fahren.(We want to go to Spain on holiday.)

But there's another use of wollen that has nothing to do with wanting something. It’s a “subjective” meaning, and it’s super handy when you want to quote someone – and at the same time, express a bit of doubt about what they said.

Let’s break it down with an example.

Picture this:Yesterday, Stefan came up to you and said:

Ich habe 6 Wochen auf den Bahamas Urlaub gemacht.

(I was on holiday in the Bahamas for 6 weeks.)

But Stefan is known for stretching the truth. You’re suspicious. This is a perfect time to pull out the special wollen construction to show you're quoting him, but not necessarily believing him.

Ich habe gestern Stefan getroffen. Er will 6 Wochen Urlaub auf den Bahamas gemacht haben. Aber das glaube ich nicht, er hat doch nie Geld.

(I saw Stefan yesterday. He claims he was in the Bahamas on holiday for six weeks, but I don't believe that. He's never got any money.)

And maybe you’ve even seen him:

Von wegen Bahamas! Ich habe ihn den ganzen Sommer lang im Supermarkt beim Arbeiten gesehen. Er hat dort einen Ferienjob gemacht.

(The Bahamas! Likely story! I've seen him working in a supermarket the whole summer long. He got a holiday job there.)

The structure is simple:wollen + past participle + haben/sein

As you can see, this is a great grammatical construction to have in your bag of tricks that is very useful for gossiping (Tratschen)! 😉

3."Sollen" as a reproduction of indirect speech

You might already be familiar with the modal verb sollen. It usually means something like should or ought to.

But sollen also has a second function—and it’s perfect for gossiping!

Imagine this conversation between two neighbours:

Hast du gehört? Bernd soll im Lotto gewonnen haben. Er soll sich einen brandneuen Porsche gekauft haben.

(Have you heard? Apparently Bernd won the lottery. He’s seemingly bought himself a brand-new Porsche.)

Nein, das stimmt nicht. Er hat lange gespart und sich einen günstigen Gebrauchtwagen gekauft.

(No, that’s not true. He’s been saving up for a long time and got himself a cheap used car.)

So, what’s happening here?

This is what’s called the subjektive Bedeutung von sollen – the subjective meaning of sollen. It’s used to repeat something you’ve heard, seen, or read somewhere, without fully committing to it. You're passing on information while keeping a bit of distance, just in case it turns out not to be true.

It doesn’t translate directly into English, but you can think of it as meaning things like apparently, allegedly, it seems that, or the word is. It’s like putting a soft filter over what you’re saying.

How it works?

• Present tense:

  sollen + infinitive

Example:

Superfoods sollen gut für die Gesundheit sein.

(Superfoods are meant to be good for you.)

• Past tense:

sollen + past participle + haben/sein

Example:

Bernd soll im Lotto gewonnen haben.

(Apparently, Bernd won the lottery.)

You’re not saying it’s 100% true—you’re just reporting what’s been going around.

So, next time you’re unsure about something you heard, read, or even think might be true, use this construction. It’s your grammatical way of saying, don’t quote me on this, but… 😏

4.Subjunctive I

The subjunctive I form, also known as present subjunctive or special subjunctive (Konjunktiv I) is a grammatical form that is mostly used when making statements as indirect speech.

Indirect speech takes place when someone repeats something that someone else said; it’s when you quote someone but indirectly.

Direkte Rede

Der Lehrer sagt: „Deutschlernen ist leicht.” (=Indikativ, oder „Normalmodus”)

The teacher says: "Learning German is easy." (=Indicative or "normal" speech)

Indirekte Rede

Du erzählst Anna: „Mein Lehrer sagt, Deutschlernen sei leicht.” (=Konjunktiv)

You tell Anna: "My teacher says learning German be (is) easy".

If this looks tricky, don't worry: The good news, however, is that the subjunctive is rarely used in German!

You are most likely to come across it in the news on TV or in newspapers.

	Ending	leben in Subjunctive I, Konjunktiv I
ich	-e	lebe (same as indicative!)
du	-est	lebest
er/sie/es/man	-e	lebe
wir	-en	leben (!)
ihr	-et	lebet
sie/Sie	-en	leben (!)

The subjunctive I is often replaced by the subjunctive II. This is often the case because it’s not always possible to differentiate the subjunctive I and the indicative:

In der Zeitung steht, Heidi Klum ernähre sich hauptsächlich von Protein-Shakes und immer mehr Prominente leben vegetarisch.

(It says in the newspaper that Heidi Klum lives mostly on protein shakes and more and more celebrities "live" vegetarian.)

Leben looks exactly the same as it would be in the indicative, so it can be changed to the subjunctive II for the sake of clarity Konjunktiv II = würden leben

→... und immer mehr Prominente würden vegetarisch leben.

Past form of the subjunctive I

​There is only one form of indirect speech in the past.

To construct it, we take the subjunctive I (or II) from the verbs sein and haben (to be and to have) + perfect particilpe (Partizip Perfekt).

The point in time when the sentence is uttered is independent of the point in time in the indirect speech.

Sein is, as usual, irregular:

Person	Subjunctive I
ich	sei
du	seist
er/sie/es/man	sei
wir	seien
ihr	sei(e)t
sie/Sie	seien

Haben is regular. If you can’t tell if the subjunctive I is being used or not because it’s identical to the indicative, you should use subjunctive II instead´:

Person	haben in subjunctive I
ich	habe → same as indicative, so we use the subjunctive II ⇒ hätte
du	habest
er/sie/es/man	habe
wir	haben ⇒ hätten
ihr	habet
sie/Sie	haben ⇒ hätten

„Immer mehr Prominente haben sich im letzten Jahr für eine vegetarische Ernährung entschieden.“

Ich habe in einem Artikel gelesen, immer mehr Prominente ⇒ haben hätten sich für eine vegetarische Ernährung entschieden.

The most usual form of the subjunctive I that you are likely to come across is the one in the 3rd person singular (er, sie, es, man). For the other grammatical persons, it is more common to use subjunctive II to avoid misunderstandings.

5.Subjunctive II

The German subjunctive II, Konjunktiv II, is used for various things:

→ To express things you wish for and make statements about things you would or might do, if certain circumstances were to be in place.

Ich wünschte, ich hätte Urlaub.

I wish I were on holiday.

Wenn ich Urlaub hätte, würde ich jetzt am Strand liegen.

If I were on holiday, I would be lying on the beach right now.

Indirect speech

Mein Lehrer sagt, ich müsste mehr üben. Er sagt, dann wäre mein Deutsch besser.

My teacher says I should practice more. He says my German would then be better.

Advice

Du könntest mehr üben, dann wäre dein Deutsch besser.

You could practice more. Your German would be better then.

In everyday life, it is also often used for:

Polite requests and questions

Ich hätte gerne ein Glas Wasser.

I would like to have a glass of water.

Entschuldigung, dürfte ich mal vorbei?

Excuse me, could you let me by?

Könntest du mir sagen, wie spät es ist?

Could you tell me the time?

Let’s have a look at how the subjunctive ii is constructed using the verb finden (to find) as an example:

1. Put the verb in its past tense, Präteritum  ⇒ fand

2. Verbs with an “a”, “o”, and “u” get an Umlaut: „ä“, „ö“, „ü“ ⇒ fänd

3. The 1st and 3rd person singular get an “e” added to their ending (if it’s not already there). ⇒ fände.

Example:

Ich fände es gut, wenn Deutsch leichter wäre.

I would find it good if German were easier.

It's the same with:

kommen → kam → käme                 

wissen → wusste → wüsste            

geben → gab → gäbe

haben → hatte → hätte

sein → ich war → wäre

können → ich konnte → könnte

But there are some exceptions that don't get the Umlaut:

sollen: ich sollte, du solltest, er sollte, …

wollen: ich wollte, du wolltest, er wollte, ...

Something that makes it a little bit easier is that most verbs use an auxiliary würden + infinitive to build the subjunctive ii.

• Ich würde gerne endlich im Lotto gewinnen.

  I would like to win the lottery at last.

  
  

• Mehr Sport würde Ihnen gut tun.

  More sport would do him good.

  
  

• Würdest du mir bitte das Salz geben?

  Would you please give me the salt?

And remember:

The 1st person (ich) and the 3rd person (er/sie/es) singular are always the same and end in -e.

Describing a world that is no real.

Another use of the subjunctive is to compare things that are not actually real. To do this you need a sentence with a main clause that is “real” and a subordinate clause that contains something that is not real.

In German, this is often used when talking about subjective feelings or perceptions. If you want to say how you feel, or what you think about something (your opinion of it), this is the form to use!

• Ich fühle mich, als ob ich kein Deutsch sprechen könnte...

  I feel as if I couldn't speak any German.

  
  

• Nein, das stimmt nicht! Du sprichst sehr gut Deutsch!

  Nonsense! You speak German very well!

When you want to express these things, you can begin the subordinate clauses with als ob or als wenn, but als wenn is used less.

By the way, do you know the expression “so tun, als ob”? (to do as if / to pretend)

• Er tut so, als ob er allwissend wäre.

  He "does as if he were all knowing".

  
  

• Sie hat nur so getan, als ob sie zugehört hätte.

  She only pretended to listen.

  
  

• Ich fühle mich, als ob ich krank werden würde.

  I feel as if I were ill.

  
  

• Er sieht aus, als wenn er die ganze Nacht nicht geschlafen hätte.

  He looks like he hand't slept all night.

  
  

• Es sieht so aus, als wenn es bald schneien würde.

  It looks like it's going to snow soon.

In everyday spoken German, you will often hear the indicative, Indikativ, which makes it a bit easier.

Er tut so, als ob er allwissend ist.

Ich fühle mich, als ob ich kein Deutsch sprechen kann.

Er sieht aus, als wenn er die ganze Nacht nicht geschlafen hat

6.Participles as adjectives II

In German, like in English, a participle is a verbal form that can often act as an adjective. This is the case both for Partizip I (present participle) and the Partizip II (past participle).

We use Partizip I as an adjunction that acts like an adjective when we want to describe two things that are happening at the same time.

Sie genießt ein entspannendes Bad. She enjoys a relaxing bath.

→ The bath relaxes and she enjoys.

It doesn’t matter if the action in question takes place in the present, the past or the future. Partizip I stays the same.

Sie hat gestern ein entspannendes Bad genossen.

She enjoyed a relaxing bath yesterday.

Sie wird am Freitag ein entspannendes Bad genießen.

She will enjoy a relaxing bath on Friday.

To formulate the Partizip I, also known as the Partizip Präsens, this is achieved in a way that is very similar to the English way of adding an -ing. In German, what you do is you take the infinitive form of a verb and add a-d at the end.

entspannen + d ⇒ entspannend

rauchen + d ⇒ rauchend

weinen + d  ⇒ weinend

BUT!!

Because it acts as an adjective, you must remember to adjust its ending so that it matches the noun that it is describing in gender, case and number.

Sie genießt ein entspannendes Bad mit ihrem Partner.

She enjoys a relaxing bath with her partner.

entspannen = Infinitive to relax

d = Ending to make Partizip I

es = Adjective ending (neuter)

What about the past participle, Partizip II?

Partizip II describes either a state or two processes that take place at different times. These two processes don't happen at the same time, but rather build on one another.

Das frisch renovierte Bad ist modern eingerichtet.

The freshly renovated bathroom is modernly furnished.

→ Das Bad ist frisch renoviert worden. Es ist modern eingerichtet.

The bathroom was recently renovated. It is modernly furnished.

The Partizip II looks just like the perfect tense.

Ich habe ein gebrauchtes Auto gekauft.

I have bought a used car.

Once more:

Partizip I: Das weinende Kind ist in der Küche.                         

The crying child is in the kitchen.

Gleichzeitig: Das Kind ist in der Küche und es weint.

At the same time: The child is in the kitchen and it is crying.

Partizip II: Sie essen das gebratene Huhn.                        

They eat the roast(ed) chicken.

Nicht gleichzeitig: Das Huhn wurde vorher gebraten. Jetzt essen sie es.

At different times: The chicken was roasted at some time in the past. They now eat the chicken.

7.Subjective meaning of "dürfen"

Modal verbs can also have a subjective meaning when the speaker tries to imply something in an indirect way - something that is very German ;)

The modal verb dürfen (to be allowed) can be used to express something that we think is quite likely but we are not quite sure about. For example, if you are 75% sure that something is true.

Another way to emphasize this uncertainty is to use adverbs such as wahrscheinlich (probably) and vermutlich (presumably).

Dürfen with a subjective meaning is always used in the subjunctive II form.

Kerstin dürfte nicht zu spät kommen.

Kerstin probably won't come too late.

→ Kerstin ist rechtzeitig losgegangen und wird wahrscheinlich pünktlich beim Meeting sein. 

Kerstin left with plenty of time and she is probably going to make it on time her meeting.

Die Supermärkte dürften heute sehr voll sein.

→ Da die Supermärkte morgen geschlossen sind, sind sie heute wahrscheinlich sehr voll.

Because the supermarket is closed tomorrow, it is probably going to be very full today

8.sein + zu + infinitive

• Die Teller sind abzuspülen.

  The plates have to be rinsed.

  
  

• Die Küche ist aufzuräumen.

  The kitchen has to be tidied up.

  
  

• Die Teller sind abgespült worden.

  The plates have been rinsed.

  
  

• Die Teller müssen abgespült werden.

  The plates must be rinsed.

  
  

• Die Teller werden gerade abgespült.

  The plates are being rinsed.

As you can see, the construction sein + zu + infinitive is equivalent to müssen + passive voice

​sein + zu + Infinitive = müssen + passive voice (abgespült werden)

Let's look at some more:

Nach der Party ist die Halle aufzuräumen.	→	Nach der Party muss/soll aufgeräumt werden.
Die Verkehrsregeln sind zu beachten.	→	Die Verkehrsregeln müssen beachtet werden.
Es ist noch so viel zu tun.	→	Es muss noch so viel getan werden.

But the form sein + zu + infinitive can be used for so much more! Another instance where it is used is where we talk about things that are simply facts of life that must be accepted.

Das ist leider nicht zu ändern. = Es kann nicht geändert werden.

That can’t be changed = It can not be changed

sein + zu + infinitive  is therefore also an alternative for modal verbs können + passive voice (geändert werden).

Die Krankheit ist zu heilen.	→	Die Krankheit kann geheilt werden.
Am Horizont sind die Alpen zu sehen.	→	Die Alpen können am Horizont gesehen werden.

In its negative form:

sein + zu + infinitive can be used instead of the form

nicht dürfen + passive voice

Dieser Raum ist nicht zu betreten.	→	Dieser Raum darf nicht betreten werden.
In diesem Bereich ist nicht zu rauchen.	→	In diesem Bereich darf nicht geraucht werden.

The form sein + zu + infinitive as an alternative for the passive voice in German can often sound a little long winded and cumbersome in everyday speech. Because of this, you will probably encounter it more often in written German.

There are a couple of exceptions to this that you are likely to hear people saying quite often:

Das ist doch nicht zu fassen / glauben!

Das kann ich einfach nicht glauben!

Das ist nicht hinzunehmen!

Das kann einfach nicht akzeptiert werden!

Das ist wirklich zu empfehlen!

Eine Sache (z.B. ein Wein, eine Reise, ...) kann empfohlen werden.

Stay tuned! we’ll be back to break it all down step by step as you go along. One thing at a time, and you'll see how everything fits together. Keep practicing, and before you know it, these concepts will start to feel much more manageable!

Join Us!

Joining LearnningTree to learn German offers you an unparalleled opportunity to master the language in a supportive and engaging environment. With expert instructors, tailored courses, and a strong emphasis on practical application, you'll gain the skills necessary to communicate effectively and confidently. Enroll today and embark on an exciting linguistic journey! 🇩🇪

If you’ve been spinning your wheels with German and feel like you’re getting nowhere, Lost in German (German A1 Workbook) is your chance to turn things around. It isn’t just another grammar eBook collecting digital dust on your desktop. It’s a practical, no-fluff, confidence-building guide designed to get you actually speaking. Not just conjugating verbs in your head while panicking at a bakery.

👉 Grab your copy of Lost in German (A1) today and finally learn German in a way that makes sense, sticks, and maybe even makes you laugh a little along the way.