Edexcel A-Level German (9GN0) · Grammar backbone 8 of 10 — Konjunktiv I and reported speech
A-Level Grammar
Konjunktiv I & reported speech
German has a dedicated mood for reporting what someone else said — Konjunktiv I. You meet it constantly in newspapers and formal writing: it lets the writer relay a claim without vouching for it. The signature forms are er sei, er habe, er komme.
Er sagt, er habe keine Zeit.he says he has no time — KI keeps the claim at arm's length
Work through each screen and answer the questions. Collect ⭐ and press Start.
What it does
Reporting at arm's length
Konjunktiv I (indirect speech / indirekte Rede) signals "these are someone else's words, not necessarily true":
Direct:Der Minister sagt: "Ich habe keine Zeit."
Indirect:Der Minister sagt, er habe keine Zeit.
Direct:Sie sagt: "Ich bin krank." → Indirect:Sie sagt, sie sei krank.
No English-style backshift: German does not move the tense back one step. The KI form reflects the tense of the original utterance, not the reporting verb.
Formation
Stem + KI endings
Take the infinitive stem and add -e, -est, -e, -en, -et, -en. The 3rd person singular is the workhorse (-e). sein is the one irregular:
infinitive
er/sie/es (KI)
haben
er habe
kommen
er komme
werden
er werde
können
er könne
wissen
er wisse
sein (irregular)
er sei (no -e)
sein in full:ich sei, du sei(e)st, er sei, wir seien, ihr seiet, sie seien — note there is no -e on ich sei / er sei.
Quick check
KI of sein
?Complete: Er sagt, er ___ krank. ("He says he is ill.")
Quick check
KI of haben
?Complete: Sie sagte, sie ___ keine Zeit. ("She said she had no time.")
Type it
Your turn — KI of sein
1Write the er/sie/es Konjunktiv I of sein.
Hint: irregular — three letters, no -e.
Type it
Your turn — KI of haben
2Write the er/sie/es Konjunktiv I of haben.
Hint: stem hab- + -e.
The fallback rule
When KI looks like the indicative → use KII
In the plural and the 1st person, the KI form is identical to the ordinary present — so it would not be recognisable as reported speech. There, German switches to Konjunktiv II:
sie haben (KI = indicative) → use sie hätten.
sie kommen (KI = indicative) → use sie kämen (or würden kommen).
But 3rd person singular stays KI: er habe, er komme — these are distinct, so no switch.
Practical rule: use KI wherever it is visibly different from the indicative (mostly the 3rd person singular); otherwise fall back to KII.
Quick check
The fallback in action
?Complete: Sie behaupten, sie ___ immer pünktlich. ("They claim they always come on time." — kommen, plural.)
Sort it
Which form does reported speech take?
Tenses in reported speech
Present, past & future
The KI form mirrors the tense of the original words:
Original present → KI present: "Ich arbeite" → er arbeite.
Original past (any of the three) → KI perfect: "Ich habe/hatte gearbeitet / arbeitete" → er habe gearbeitet.
Original future → werde + infinitive: "Ich werde kommen" → er werde kommen.
So the three German past tenses collapse into one reported form: the KI perfect (er sei gekommen, er habe gesehen).
Quick check
Reporting a past statement
?Complete: Er sagte, er ___ den Film gesehen. ("He said he had seen the film.")
Type it
Your turn — KI of können
3Write the er/sie/es Konjunktiv I of können.
Hint: stem könn- + -e (keep the umlaut).
Structure & journalism
dass, word order & reporting verbs
The reported clause can use dass (verb to the end) or drop it (verb second):
With dass: Er sagt, dass er keine Zeit habe.
Without: Er sagt, er habe keine Zeit. (verb-second, no comma-verb clash).
Common reporting verbs: sagen, behaupten, erklären, betonen, meinen, berichten — Der Sprecher betonte, die Firma werde mehr investieren.
Questions & commands: yes/no questions use ob (Er fragte, ob sie komme); commands use sollen (Sie sagte, er solle warten).
Quick check
KI of werden
?Complete: Der Sprecher sagt, die Firma ___ mehr investieren. ("…the firm will invest more." — werden.)
Type it
Your turn — KI of kommen
4Write the er/sie/es Konjunktiv I of kommen.
Hint: stem komm- + -e.
Type it
Your turn — KI of werden
5Write the er/sie/es Konjunktiv I of werden.
Hint: stem werd- + -e — the future-reporting form.
Sort it
Keep KI, or fall back to KII?
Sort each form by whether it is a usable KI or clashes with the indicative.
KI is distinct → use KI
KI = Indikativ → use KII
Game · Match
Match the verb to its KI form
Tap an infinitive on the left, then its KI (er) form on the right.
INFINITIVE
sein
haben
können
werden
kommen
wissen
KI (er)
werde
sei
wisse
habe
komme
könne
Recap
Your Konjunktiv I toolkit
Use: indirect speech — relaying a claim without vouching for it (journalism, formal writing).