Konjunktiv I in news and academic writing

At B2 you learned the forms of Konjunktiv I and how to report what someone said (Konjunktiv I: reporting what someone said, Reported questions, requests and the switch to Konjunktiv II). At C1 the focus moves to written texts: news reports, minutes, academic papers. There Konjunktiv I is not decoration. It is the writer's way of saying this is someone else's statement, not mine.

Distance, not doubt

Konjunktiv I marks reported content. It does not say that the writer doubts it; it keeps the writer neutral. That is why journalists use it constantly: the claim belongs to the source.

• Die Ministerin sagte, die Regierung werde die Steuern nicht erhöhen.The minister said the government would not raise taxes.
• Kritiker wenden ein, diese Annahme lasse sich empirisch kaum belegen.Critics object that this assumption can hardly be proven empirically.

The indicative after a verb of saying is grammatical too, but in a news report it sounds as if the journalist shares the claim. In academic writing, verbs that present a result as established (zeigen, nachweisen, belegen) usually take the indicative, because the writer accepts the finding. With behaupten, vermuten, meinen or argumentieren, Konjunktiv I keeps your distance.

Reporting across a whole passage

German only needs to name the source once. Every following sentence in Konjunktiv I is still understood as reported, with no sagte er. English has to keep adding "he said" or "according to the company".

• Der Sprecher erklärte, das Unternehmen habe im vergangenen Jahr Verluste gemacht.The spokesman explained that the company had made losses the previous year.
• Man werde deshalb zwei Standorte schließen.It would therefore close two sites, he said.
• Betroffen seien rund 300 Beschäftigte.Around 300 employees were affected, according to him.
• Kündigungen wolle man jedoch vermeiden.However, the company wanted to avoid redundancies, he said.

As soon as the writer switches back to the indicative, the voice is the writer's own again.

Time is relative to the original statement

Konjunktiv I does not backshift like English. Choose the form by the time of the original statement, not by the tense of sagte:

When Konjunktiv I looks like the indicative

Konjunktiv I is clearly visible in the third person singular (er komme, sie habe, man könne) and in every form of sein (ich sei, sie seien). In most other persons it is identical with the indicative (wir kommen, sie haben). Then writers switch to Konjunktiv II, or to würde + infinitive when the Konjunktiv II form is unclear or old-fashioned:

• Die Gewerkschaft erklärte, die Beschäftigten hätten lange genug gewartet.The union stated that the employees had waited long enough.

Questions and requests

Reported questions use ob or the question word plus Konjunktiv I. Reported commands use sollen, or the more formal mögen.

• Der Journalist wollte wissen, ob die Zahlen bereits veröffentlicht worden seien.The journalist wanted to know whether the figures had already been published.
• Die Polizei teilte den Anwohnern mit, sie sollten die Fenster geschlossen halten.The police told residents to keep their windows closed.

Watch the verb that introduces the report: betonen, einräumen, bestreiten, behaupten and warnen each colour the claim. Choosing them well matters as much as the Konjunktiv.

Common mistakes

• Er sagte, er war krank. English backshifting. Keep the time of the original: er sei krank (ill at the time) or er sei krank gewesen (ill before).
• Die Forscher sagen, sie haben neue Daten. Not wrong, but it reads as indicative. In careful writing use sie hätten neue Daten.
• Er sagte, er würde krank sein. For sein and haben, use their own forms: er sei krank, er habe Zeit.
• Reading Konjunktiv I as doubt. Der Täter sei geflohen means "according to the source, he fled", not "he probably didn't".
• Sie sagt, sie komm später. The Konjunktiv I ending is -e: sie komme später.