ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the use of subjunctive in reported speech. The subjunctive mood, particularly the form of the subjunctive known as the Konjunktiv I, is used to indicate reported speech: it signals that someone other than the writer of the text has made a particular statement. The subjunctive is primarily a feature of the written language – it is used extensively in newspaper reports and in literary texts – and tends to be avoided in spoken German, where the indicative is preferred. The Konjunktiv I can be used in the present tense, the perfect tense, and, less commonly, the future tense. The Konjunktiv I is formed by using the present stem of the verb infinitive minus -en-e (singular) or -en (plural). The examples of Konjunktiv I in the text are all in the third person singular form and are easy to distinguish from the ordinary present indicative. However, in the plural, the Konjunktiv I looks the same as the indicative.
