Konjunktiv II Past (hätte gemacht, wäre gegangen)

So far, we have explored Konjunktiv II in the present — describing things that are not currently true (Wenn ich reich wäre...). But what about things that were not true in the past? For this, German uses Konjunktiv II in the past tense, also called Konjunktiv Plusquamperfekt or irrealer Vergangenheitsbezug.

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Formation

Konjunktiv II Past is formed with:

hätte / wäre + Partizip II (past participle)

This is structurally identical to the Plusquamperfekt (past perfect) but with hätte/wäre instead of hatte/war:

Tense	Structure	Example
Plusquamperfekt (indicative)	hatte/war + Partizip II	Ich hatte das Buch gelesen. (I had read the book.)
Konjunktiv II Past	hätte/wäre + Partizip II	Ich hätte das Buch gelesen. (I would have read the book.)

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hätte vs wäre: Which Auxiliary?

The same rules apply as for the Perfekt tense:

Use hätte (most verbs):

• Transitive verbs: Ich hätte das gemacht. (I would have done that.)
• Reflexive verbs: Er hätte sich beeilt. (He would have hurried.)