The Subjunctive Mood Expresses

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

The subjunctive mood expresses a situation that does not exist, has not happened, is doubtful or uncertain or is not possible. It includes parliamentary meeting language. The subjunctive is a formal structure that we are used to emphasize urgency or importance. In order to recognize by the subjunctive mood we should pay attention the followings:

Statements contrary the fact or IF-hypothetical clauses: For present and future time use the past subjunctive form or past, however, for the verb ‘to be’ use ‘were’ for all subjects:

If it were true, you could not be here.

Some people may say If it was true…, but it is only grammatically correct for the indicative mood. For the past time use the past perfect subjunctive or past perfect:

If it had been true, you could not have been here.

Some people may say Had I been true…, there the if is implied.

Wishes: For the present and future time use past subjunctive form or past:

I wish I were rich.

For the past time use also the past perfect subjunctive:

I wish I had been rich.

Conveying the content of a command or THAT–clause: It is a part of grammar that we use after certain verbs or with certain verbs, the most common are advice, ask, prefer, command, demand, desire, insist, purpose, recommend, suggest, request and urge. When we use these verbs to talk about urgency or importance, we use usually use ‘that’, ‘That’- clauses are associated with voice of authority, command, formality and obligation. ‘That’ is subordinating conjunction that begins a subordinate or sometimes dependent clause. It is often dropped in casual cases:

She suggested (that) I put it away!

It is advisable, that you leave as soon as possible!

Formal motions and resolutions:

It is decreed that we be vigilant in observing the rules.

Certain cases subordinating conjunctions can express possible subjunctives, which include concessive clauses with supposition and untruth:

She looks as if she were sick.

I am staying whether it be true or not

She talks as though she were in charge

The subjunctive expresses doubt, uncertainty disagreement and scarcely exists any longer in English. In German, though some of it forms are literary or affected, it is still in consonant use in both the written and spoken language. Its main use is in reported matter, in order to disclaim personal responsibility for that is being said or at least to distance oneself from it. It is by no means obligatory when reporting speech, however, and indeed is rarely used when the reporting verb is in the present and related tenses.

Basically, there are two types of subjunctive in German:

the special subjunctive (Konjunktiv I)

the general subjunctive (Konjunktiv II)

The special subjunctive

The special subjunctive is used to relate indirect speech. It is often used to relate what someone else has said or claimed:

Er sagte, er sei ehrlicher Mann. (He said he was an honest man.)

In English this special subjunctive is largely obsolete and is often found in older expressions, like:

So be it!

Long live the King!

In German, there are number of uses for this special subjunctive but by far the most common is with relating with someone else has said. It is used when reporting speech. It distances from you from what was said – not necessary casting doubt on the statement, but not talking responsibility for the statement either. Just like English, German bases the special subjunctive on the stem of the present tense form:

ich mache

du machest

ers/sie/es mache – to form the third person special subjunctive, we just add –e to the infinitive stem.

Many special subjunctive forms are indistinguishable from the ordinary present tense ‘ich’

The only expectation to these endings is for the verb sein:

ich sei

du seiest

er/sie/es sei

wir seien

ihr seiet

Sie/sie seien

The special subjunctive is used four basic tenses, which grammatical names do not indicate their function:

Present:

Ich schreibe einen Brief. (I write a letter)

Er sagt, sie schreibe einen Brief.

Past:

Ich schrieb einen Brief. (I wrote a letter.)

Es sagt, sie habe einenen Brief gechrieben.

Future:

Ich werde einen Brief schreibe.n (I will write a letter.)

Er sagt, sie werde einen Brief geschrieben.

Future perfect:

Ich werde einen Brief am Sonntag geschrieben haben.

(I will have written a letter in Sunday.)

Er sagt, sie werde einen Brief am Sonntag geschrieben haben.

The general subjunctive:

This general subjunctive also expresses uncertainty, doubt or a contrary reality conditions. It is frequently used to reflect politeness and good manners. The subjunctive mood can be used in various tenses, so in this way is similar to passive voice. As in English, German builds off the past tense of verbs to form the subjunctive:

haben (to have) – Infinitive form of the verb

hatte (had) – Imperfect tens /simple past

hätte (would have/had )- Subjunctive mood

sein (to be) – Infinitive form of the verb

war (was) – Imperfect tense/simple past

wäre (would have/were )- Subjunctive mood

The subjunctive form of ‘haben’ and ‘sein’ operate as helping verbs when used with a past participle of the main verb.

Ich hätte Deutsch gelernt. (I would have learned German.)

Ich wäre nach Atlanta gefahren (I woud have driven to Atlanta.)

In English when we are forming the perfect tense with this subjunctive mood it is helpful to think of both of these forms as meaning ‘would have’. The conjugation of these two helping verbs will be the followings:

ich hätte ich wäre

du hättest du wärest

er/sie/es hätte er/sie/es wäre

wir hätten wir wären

ihr hättet ihr wäret

Sie/sie hätten Sie/sie wären

Summarizing up, we use ‘wäre’ when the verb indicates movement to a new location, such as fahren , gehen, fliegen. It is also used when the indicated a change in a state of being, such as wachsel, sterben, werden. Finally we use with certain verbs which always use a form of sein as a helping verb in the perfect tense, such as sein (which past participle is gewesen) and werden sein (which past participle is geworden).

Chapter 4

Voices of the Verb

4.1 The Active Voice

The verb is in active voice when it tells us something that a person or a thing does. An active voice expresses an action performed by the subject. The subject is the doer of the action denoted by the verb and the object receives the action of the verb. Therefore, in the active voice, we concentrate our attention on the doer and we make the doer of the action the subject of the sentence:

Mary kicked the ball.

A new company has taken it over.

In English, the active voice is usually more efficacious in business and academic writing, because it is more direct and simpler.

Only the intransitive verbs remain in active voice, because they have no object, however, the active transitive verbs, which have objects, can be changed in passive voice.

Catherine speaks silently. – intransitive

Catherine sent a message. - transitive

The structure of the active voice in German is formed in a similar way using the subject of the verb as the agent or doer to undertake an action.

Ich lerne deutsch. (I learn German.) – Present tense

Ich werde Dutsch lernen. (I will learn German.) – Future tense

4.2 The Passive Voice

A verb is in passive voice when it tells us something that is done to a person or a thing. A passive voice expresses an action performed upon the subject. The subject of the verb is acted upon and the object is the doer of the action.

The ball was kicked by Mary.

When the active voice is changed to passive voice, certain changes take place: - The object becomes the subject

- The subject becomes the object and is shifted as ‘by + agent’

- The form of the verb changes to ‘be + past participle of the verb’

- The verb changes in number to suit the new object.

Modals such as can, could, may, might, shall, should, and so on, do not change in passive voice, however, they are used along with ‘be + past participle of the verb’:

They can read the book.

The book can be read by them.

Certain cases passive voice does not need or is irrelevant to use an agent or doer to complete the sentence:

The church was built in 1984.

The cheater was caught.

Thus, the passive voice is used in the following cases:

when the agent is not important

when the agent is not required

when the agent is ‘they’

when the speaker wishes to be neutral

when there is need a need for confidentiality

When a tense is changed from active voice to passive voice, a change in tense is take place. The examples below show the changes in tense from active voice to passive voice:

Tense

Active voice

Passive voice

Present Simple

Mark draws a picture.

The picture is drawn by Mark.

Present Continuous

Mark is drawing a picture.

The picture is being drawn by Mark.

Past Simple

Mark drew a picture.

The picture was drawn by Mark.

Past Continuous

Mark was drawing a picture.

The picture was being drawn by Mark

Perfect Simple

Mark has drawn a picture.

The picture has been drawn by Mark.

Past Perfect

Mark had drawn a picture.

The picture had been drawn by Mark.

Future Simple

Mark will draw a picture.

The picture will be drawn by Mark.

Future Perfect

Mark will have drawn a picture

The picture will have been drawn by Mark.

Sometimes a transitive verb has two objects: a direct object and an indirect object. Therefore, the sentence can be changed into passive voice in two ways:

She gave me the keys.

The direct object becomes the subject:

The keys were given to me.

The indirect object becomes the subject:

I was given the keys.

Usually it is preferred that the indirect object becomes the subject of the passive verb. In this special case, one verb becomes the subject of the passive verb, while the other object remains unchanged. The latter object is called the ‘retained object’. Prepositions such as ‘for’, ‘to’ are used with the retained object and the direct object becomes the subject in passive voice:

They got me a book. – A book was got for me by them.

He gave her a bill. – A bill was given to her by him.

In some sentence constructions in the passive voice, another appropriate preposition such as ‘to’, ‘with’, is used instead of ‘by’

Their attempt impressed the judges – The judges were impressed with their attempt.

Patrick married Blair. – Blair was married to Patrick.

Imperative sentences can be also changed into passive voice. When a sentence express a command or an order, the passive structure of the sentence will start with ‘let’, which results that the imperative verb changes into ‘be + participle’:

Do not speak ill of the people. – Let the people not be spoken ill of.

When a sentence expresses suggestion or advice, the verb takes the form ‘should/must + be + past participle’. The object of the imperative sentences becomes the subject in the passive structure:

Wash the clothes in the cold water. – The clothes should be washed in cold water.

The passive voice is used much less frequently in German than in English but it is used especially in writing. Basically, in German we use two kinds of passive constructions:

The ‘werden’ Passive

The ‘sein’ Passive

The ‘werden’ Passive

The ‘werden’ passive expresses an action or a motion through the use of the verb ‘werden + the past participle’. The examples mentioned below also show the changes in tense from active voice to ‘werden’ passive voice:

Tenses

Active voice

Passive voice

Present

I lerne Deutsch.

(I learn German.)

Deutsch wird gelernt.

(German is being learned.)

Past

Ich lernte Deutsch.

(I learned German.)

Deutsch wurde gelernt.

(German was being learned.)

Present Perfect

Ich habe Deutsch gelernt. (I have learned German.)

Deutsch ist gelernt worden.

(German has been learned.)

Past Perfect

Ich hatte Deutsch gelernt. (I had learned German.)

Deutsch war gelernt worden.

(German had been learned.)

Future

Ich werde Deutsch lernen. (I will learn German.)

Deutsch wird gelernt werden.

(German will be learned.)

Future Perfect

Ich werden Deutsch gelernt haben. (I will have learned German.)

Deutsch wird gelernt worden sein. (German will have been learned.)

The ‘sein’ Passive

The ‘sein’ passive expresses a state using the auxiliary verb ‘sein + the past participle’. In English, the indirect object of an active verb may be made into the subject of the corresponding passive verb. This is impossible in German. It can be translated using the expression ‘man’(someone):

In English: I was given the book.

In German: Man gab mir das Buch.(Someone gave me the book.)

Thus, the examples mentioned below show the changes in tense from active voice to ‘sein’ passive voice:

Tenses

Active voice

Passive voice

Present

Man öffnet die Tür.

(Someone opens the door.)

Die Tür ist geöffnet.

(The door is being opened.)

Past

Man öffnete die Tür.

(Someone opened the door.)

Die Tür war geöffnet.

(The door was being opened.)

Present Perfect

Man ist die Tür geöffnet. (Someone has opened the door.)

Die Tür ist geöffnet gewesen.

(The door has been learned.)

Past Perfect

Man war die Tür geöffnet. (Someone had opened the door.)

Die Tür war geöffnet gewesen.

(The door had been opened.)

Future

Man wird die Tür geöffnet. (Someone will open the door.)

Die Tür wird geöffnet sein.

(The door will be opened.)

Future Perfect

Man wird die Tür geöffnet sein. (Someone will have opened the door.)

Die Tür wird geöffnet gewesen sein. (The door will have been opened.)

In the passive construction in English the preposition ‘by’ indicates both the doer of the action and the instrument. In German, we use three kinds of prepositions in both passive forms:

- ‘von’ is used to indicate a person or a thing who is performing the action

Der Brief wird von mir geschrieben.

The letter is being written by me.

- ‘durch’ is used to indicate the means by which the action is done:

Der Brief wird durch die Post geschickt.

The letter is being sent through the post office.

- ‘mit’ is used to indicate the instrument used to perform the action:

Der Brief wird mit dem Kuli geschrieben.

The letter was being written with pen.

A very important difference between the English and the German passive voice is that, in English – opposed by German – we cannot make passive construction with intransitive verbs. In German we can form passive using the impersonal verb ‘es’, it is usually used as the subject in the beginning of the sentence:

Viele Leute tanzen. (People are dancing.)

Es wird getanzt.

Chapter 5

The Use of the Tenses

It is important not to confuse the word time and tense. The notion of the time is universal and is independent of any particular language. The word tense stands for verbal constructions expressing certain time relations. Tenses vary from language to language and from where the German and English tenses are not exceptions under this rule.

The English tenses system comprises twelve tenses. These tenses are verbal constructions expressing aspects of time combined with aspects of activity. These are the followings:

Tenses referring to present time:

Present Tense

Present Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Tenses referring to past time:

Past Tense

Past Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Tenses referring to future time:

Future Tense

Future Continuous Tense

Future Perfect Tense

Future Continuous Tense

In contrast, in German tenses system comprises only six tenses, these are the followings:

Präsens (Present Tense)

Präteritum or Imperfekt (Past Tense)

Perfekt (Present Perfect Tense)

Plusquanperfect (Past Perfect Tense)

Futur I (Future Tense)

Futur II (Future Perfect Tense)

5.1 Present Tense

Present Simple Tense

The present tense in English is used to express a state or a single action at the present moment. The basic form is that the verb gets an –s ending in third form singular.

She looks ill.

This tense is used to refer habitual and repeated actions. Such actions are usually attached to the adverbs: once/twice/three times (a day/a week/a month/a year), every (day/week/month/year/one day), usually, generally, often, sometimes, always, never and so on. These time-indicators sometimes are expressed or implied:

They usually get up at 7 o’clock.

The present tense is used to show general statement covering all time:

Actions permanentaly characteriying the subejct:

I prefer coffee to tea.

Natural scientific,eternal truth:

Birds fly.

The present tense is used where present continuous tense cannot be used, these situations are:

With verbs expressing physical or mental perceptions, such as see, hear, smell, taste, feel, recognize, observe, notice and so on. The verb ‘see’ and ‘hear’ are often used with the modal verb ‘can’ or ‘could’:

It was dark and we could not see anything.

I hear a knock at the door.

By sport commentaries:

Hank passes the ball to Mike, he shoots and it is goal!

When we quote:

Shakespeare says: "…"

After here and there:

Here comes my friend!

Present tense can be used with verbs expressing motions, such as go, arrive, come, leave, start, spend:

We spend three days in Chicago.

Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous tense is used to denote an action at the moment of speaking or writing. Such actions are usually attached to the adverbials like now, just, at the moment, - these are also expressed or implied. Its basic form is ‘am/is/are + verb + –ing’:

He is having lunch at the moment.

The leaves are falling down.

It is also used to express a temporary habit:

He is working hard.

Furthermore, this tense is used to refer the constant repetition an event, an action permanently characterizing the subject:

He is constantly speaking to herself.

The present continuous tense is used to express refusal:

With the first person, it expresses a straightforward refusal on the part of the speaker:

I am not playing it again.

With the second and third persons, it expresses the refusal to allow an action:

You are not using my pen again.

In German is only one form of the present tense corresponding to both the present simple and the present continuous in English. There is no gerund and continuous –ing form. It is also used to express what you are doing at the moment:

Ich gehe gerade spazieren. (I am having a walk.)

The word ‘gerade’ is often used to indicate what is going on now, but it does not mean a regular habit. Obviously, it can be implied.

The present tense is used to express a regular action:

Du spielst jeden Sonntag Tennis. (You play tennis every Sunday.)

It can be used to denote a future activity:

Er fährt morgen in den Urlaub. (He goes on vacation tomorrow.)

It can be also used to express facts, proverb or sayings:

Der Klügere gibt nach. (The cleverer give in.)

In some situations the present simple is used to denote something in the past, this case is called Scenic Present, which aim is to produce excitements:

Die Sonne schien. Plötzlich donnert es. (The sun was shining. Suddenly it thunders.)

If something was starts in the past but it has not ended yet, we use the simple present:

Ich warte schon seit zwei Stunden. (I already wait for two hours.)

5.2 Past Tense

Past Tense Simple

The past tense is used to show an action wholly completed at some point in the past. Such actions are usually attached to adverbials as yesterday (morning/afternoon/evening), the day before yesterday, just now, at the time, last (night/week/month/year/spring/Monday), once, ago and so on.

The window was broken the day before yesterday.

This tense is used to express repeated actions or a past habit:

Now and again I heard something strange noisy from there.

It is also used to express continuous actions, when there is no contrast between a longer and a shorter period of time:

They worked in Germany from 1999 to 2005.

Simple past tense is used after the verbs wish, if only, as if/as though:

I wish you were here.

We use past simple tense in clauses beginning with while and as, the common aspect is commonly used, as the meaning of these conjunctions already implies a certain duration:

While he talked he rang for his friend.

The past tenses are used to replace the present tenses in reported speech if the reporting verb is in the past:

My brother is a teacher. – He said his brother was a teacher.

Past Tense Continuous:

The past continuous tense is used to denote an action going on at a given past moment or it indicates that an action was going on at a time when something else happened using the adverbs when or while. Its basic form is ‘was/were + verb+ –ing’

She was not cooking at midday.

She was sitting at the desk when I came in.

The past continuous tense is used to show an action filling up a whole period of time in the past, when the action is discovered in its progress as well as a parallel actions, when two actions were going on at the same time:

It was raining all day yesterday.

While we were dining, she was playing.

It may also be used to express:

Certain feelings such as blame, irritation, impatience, praise:

I thought you were never coming!

Fulfilled or unfulfilled past intentions:

I was expecting to be back on Sunday, but I missed the train.

Cause or reason:

He had an accident because he was driving too fast.

In questions about how a period was spent, the past continuous tense often sounds more polite than the past tense:

What were you doing before you came here?

What did you do before you came her?

The past simple tense and the past continuous tense are the most frequently used tenses in spoken as well as in written English to express an action that has happened in the past period of time. As opposed to this, in German past tense is not expressed in conversations, it is mostly used in written materials. In German, the past tense is used to refer an action or an event that started and finished in the past. This tense is also known as Imperfect tense.

Ich spielte Fußball als Kind. (As a kid I played soccer.)

Depart from the rules, modal verbs and verbs ‘haben’, ‘sein’ and ‘werden’ are exceptions because they are mostly used in past tense in conversations:

Sie mußte ihn sehen. (She had to see him.)

5.3 Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Simple Tense

The present perfect tense in English is used to express the present result of a past action or experience. Its basic form is ‘have/has + the past participle form of the verb’:

I have closed the door.

It is also used to show an action begun in the past and continued into the present or up to the present, using the adverbials since and for. ‘For’ is used to indicate the whole period of duration, while ‘since’ is used to indicate a point of time the action began:

I have known him for two years.

We have been very busy since we came back.

The present perfect is used for a past action:

which has just finished

It has just struck ten.

whose time is not given:

We have been invited to tea.

whose time is not defined. In this case the verb is usually accompanied by often, yet, ever, lately, never, recently, already as well as often, always:

Have you ever been in London?

which has happened during a time including the present, it is also attached to adverbials such as today, this morning/week/month/ year/afternoon:

She has phoned twice this morning.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The present perfect continuous tense is used to express the same kind of meaning as the present perfect tense, though the action is very often still happening. Its basic form is ‘have/has + been + –ing’. This tense answers the questions How long? or emphasizes the length of time the action has taken. There is no clear division between the use of the present perfect and the present perfect continuous:

It has been raining since three o’clock.

How long have you been studying English?

Sometimes present perfect tense is used for a past action to explain a present result:

Why are your hands black? Because, I have been getting the coal in.

The present continuous tense may give emotional coloring to the statement:

What have you been doing to my pen?

German and English both have a present perfect tense for expressing the past time. In both languages, if the subject changes then the auxiliary verb may change and the subject and the auxiliary verb must agree. The full verb will not change:

Er hat da gewohnt. (He has lived there).

One of the main differences between English and German present perfect tense is word order. In German, the full verb comes last in the sentence:

Ich habe Fußball spielen. (I have played soccer.)

Another difference is the auxiliary verb. English uses have, German uses mostly haben, but sometime sein:

Er ist nach Hause gegangen. (He has gone home.)

As often in English, the present perfect tense is used to speak of something that happened in the past and some bearing on what is bearing on what is being talked about the present, however, German uses the perfect tense in this way much more rigorously that English uses:

Tim hat die Grundlagen des heutigen deutschen Staats gelegt. (Tom laid the foundations of the present German state.)

5.4 Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Simple Tense

The past perfect tense is used to express a single action or repeated actions which took place a given past moment. Its basic form is ‘had + past participle of the verb + an -en ending’. The past moment from which the accomplished action is viewed may be clear from the context or fixed by an adverbial such as hardly/barely/scarcely, already, no sooner, just:

He said that he had telephoned his father.

By the time children had already gone to the bed.

It is used to express past hope or intention, which remained unfulfilled, with the use of such as to hope, to mean, to expect, to intend, to think:

I had hoped to buy ticket for the show, but she was not able to.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is concerned with the continuity of an action rather than its completed state. Its basic form is ‘had +been + –ing’. This tense is used to show an action begun before a given moment in the past and continued into that past moment or come very close up to the past moment. It is generally accompanied by an adverbial such as by, since/for:

By that time he had been teaching us for three years.

The past perfect continuous tense is also used to express a previous action whose result is still continuing at the given past moment although the action itself has ceased:

Why were you crying? I was crying because I have been peeling onions.

The past perfect tense in German is corresponding with the English past perfect tense, it is used to express a time previous to another in the past. Its conjugation is the same as the present perfect tense, except that we use the past tense of the auxiliary verbs ‘haben’ and ‘sein’, there it will change their into ‘hatte’ und ‘war’+ the past participle of the verb. As usual the helping verb ‘sein’ is used to denote a change of state or place and the ‘haben’ is used to any other verb, thus their conjugation will be the followings:

Ich hatte gelernt.

(I had been learned.)

Ich hatte gelernt

Du hatte gelernt

Er/sie/es hatte gelernt

Wir hatten gelernt

Ihr hattet gelernt

Sie/sie hatten gelernt

Ich war gekommen.

(I had been arrived.)

Ich war gekommen

Du warst gekommen

Er/sie/es war gekommen

Wir waren gekommen

Ihr wart gekommen

Sie/sie waren gekommen

As in English the past perfect tense is also used to express an action before a certain moment in the past:

Ich ging zum Arzt weil ich seit Wochen krank gewesen war.

(I went to the doctor, because I had been ill for weeks.)

5.5 Futurity

The future tense in English simply refers to a future event. This is a simply prediction of the future. There are various ways to express future actions and the choice between them is on whether the action or state is planned, expected, imminent, intended or scheduled, thus the future actions can be expressed by the followings:

The Simple Future

The Future Continuous

To Be Going To or The Near Future

The Future Perfect Simple

The Future Perfect Continuous

The Future-In-The-Past Simple

The Future-In-The-Past Continuous

The Simple Present

The Present Continuous

The Present Perfect

The Past Tense

The Past Perfect

To Be To

To Be About To

The Simple Present:

Its basic form is ‘shall/will + verb’. We use ‘shall’ in the first person singular and plural and ‘will’ in the second and third persons. There are some time-indicators, that may indicate a single action or a state, these are: the day after tomorrow, tomorrow (morning/afternoon/evening/night), next (week/month/year/spring/Monday/January), in a few minutes, then, soon, at/on/in/before/after, and so on

We shall speak to him tomorrow.

She will arrive at nine o’clock.

Future Continuous

Its basic form is ‘shall/will + be + –ing form of the verb’. The future continuous is used to denote an action going on at a given future moment:

What will you be doing at this time tomorrow?

It is used to refer future events that are planned:

We shall be having dinner when you arrive.

This future tense is used to denote an action filling up a whole period of time in the future:

I shall be watching television all evening.

To Be Going To or The Near Future

‘To be going to’ is used to express:

an intention in the future:

He says he is going to write it in pencil.

a strong probability or likelihood:

I think it is going to snow.

a certainty about the future:

She is going to have a baby.

Future Perfect Simple

It form is ‘shall/will + have + Past Participle’. The future perfect is used to express an action already completed at a given future moment. The future moment from which the complete action is viewed may be indicated by means of an adverbial expression (by this time, by then, by next summer, a year from now, by the end, by Monday, by that time, by the end of and so on) and by means of another action:

They will have crossed the Channel by this time tomorrow.

We shall have walked a long way before we reach the sea.

The future perfect simple is also used to indicate an action begun before a given future moment and still going on at that future moment:

You will have known each other for ten years by the end of this year.

Future Perfect Continuous

Its form is ‘shall/will + have + been + –ing form of the verb’. The future perfect continuous expresses an action begun before a given future moment and continued up to or into that future moment. It stresses the continuity of the action. This tense is always accompanied by some reference to time such as for, by:

By then they will have been staying here for a fortnight.

Future-In-The-Past Simple

Its form is ‘should/would + Sort Infinitive’. The Future-in-the-past simple tense is used to refer an action seen from a past viewpoint:

He told me that he would go to the dentist soon.

Future-In-The-Past Continuous

Its basic form is ‘should/would + be + –ing form of the verb’. The future-in-the-past continuous shows a future continuous from a viewpoint in the past:

Tom ensured me that, less than ten minutes, Katy would be sleeping.

The Simple Present

The Simple Present tense is used to indicate future time with verbs expressing motion such as go, come, leave start, arrive, and so on:

We leave Budapest at 2 p.m. on Sunday and we arrive in Barcelona at 6 o’clock

It is also used in time clauses beginning with when, before, after, till, until, while, as soon as, by the time, as:

He will be very surprised when he meets her.

Moreover, it can be used in conditional sentences beginning with if, even if, unless, in case, on condition and so on:

We shall not ho for a walk if it rains tomorrow.

The Present Continuous

The present Continuous tense may be used for a future arrangement. The time of the action must always be mentioned, as otherwise there might be confusion between the present and future meaning:

He is taking his exam in April.

The Present Perfect

The present perfect may be used in sub-clauses expressing or implying future time:

We shall not go until we have not finished our work

The Past Tense

The past tense is used to express an action in the future when that future moment is viewed from the past. Its function is simultaneous with another action expressed by a Future-in-the-Past:

She told me that she started for Paris in a week’s time.

The Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is used to denote an action in the future, that will take place before another action or state referred by a Future-in-the-Past:

He said he would post the letter as soon as he had written it.

To Be To

‘To be to’ is used to express:

A future plan or arrangement:

Mary is to go to the doctor.

A duty:

Which part of the lesson are we to learn?

A probability or possibility:

The price of the cigarette is to be higher soon.

To Be About To

‘To be about to’ refers that something will happen in the immediate future:

My neighbour is about to go to the beach.

In German the future tense in used much less frequently than in English. There are two ways to express the future tenses:

Future Tense or First Future

Future Perfect Tense or Second Future

Future Tense or First Future

The future tense uses the helping verb or finite verb ‘werden’+ the infinitive of the verb that describes also a future action:

Wir werden spielen. (We will play.)

Future tense is used to express a future assumption or a hope. These assumptions and hopes are often strengthened by words such as shon (surely), wohl (probably), sicher (certainly), bestimmt (certainly), vielleicht (perhaps)

Wir werden schon eine gute Zeit haben, wenn wir in den Urlaub fliegen. (We will surely have a good time when we are going on holiday.)

Although, if we are referring to an event in the immediate future we use present simple instead of future:

Nächsten Sommer ziehen wir nach Schweden.

(Next summer we are moving to Sweden.)

The future tense is used to express a request:

Du wirst heute in der Schule gehen! (You are going to school today!)

The Perfect Future Tense or Second Future

The future perfect tense uses the conjugate helping verb ‘werden + Past Participle + the helping verb haben/sein’:

Ich werde gegessen haben. (I will have eaten.)

Ihr werdet gegangen sein. (You will have gone.)

Basically, the helping verb ‘sein’ mostly used for intransitive verbs that denote a change of a state or place, such as gehen (to go), einschlafen (to sleep), aufwaschen (to wake up), sterben (to die) and so on and the helping verb ‘haben’ is used anywhere else.

The second future is used to express that something has finished:

Er wird schon gut gegangen sein. (I am sure that it will have worked out fine.)

It is also used to assume that something will have finished by a certain time in the future:

Ich werde meinen Aufsatz bis morgen Abend verbessert haben.

(I will have improved my essay by tomorrow night.)

CONCLUSIONS

I have chosen this topic because I have always felt very close to English and the German languages, therefore I would have thrown light upon both the beauties and the difficulties in these languages. Sometimes, the grammar can make us confused with their exceptions, the right usage of the present perfect tense and the past tense, but with hard working and exercising, we can manage to learn it. The verb is the most important part of one language, for this reason I tried to analyze it as close as possible.

For my cases comprises I have drew the conclusion that between the English and the German verb has many differences and similarities as well. In German, the separable and inseparable suffixes and their accusative and dative required case may confuse us, which can change the verb’s meaning, its function and its position. Moreover, the recognition of the weak, strong and finally the mixed verbs can make our work heavier. These rules need to be learned, because they are essential in our daily life. Nevertheless, in English can find difficulties in grammar such as passive voice, the subjunctive mood and the right usage of tenses.

In the first chapter of this diploma paper, I tried to focus on the categories of the verb. In this part, I would like to express the importance of the auxiliary and modal verbs and to give a clearer view of that how many modals use the English grammar and how many is necessary in German grammar. It is also evidenced from this part that these helping verbs are very useful for making simple and compound structures.

In the second chapter, I emphasized mostly the types of the verb. In this chapter, I have chosen to compare four types such as regular and irregular verbs, transitive and intransitive verbs as well as finite and non-finite verbs. The forth type is very important in German grammar and I tried to point out that a verb how can be influenced by a shortly pronoun.

The third and the fourth chapters laid the stress on the differences of moods and voices in both languages. These topics may seem pretty easier, but it is not at all. Each part of the mood has its own rules, it has to be learned, otherwise it cannot be used. My opinion is that the passive voice in German is complicated than in English. Each language has its own function, its right usage of the voices, which I would like to support my statement with vast number of examples.

The final chapter is dealing with the proper use of the tenses. The tenses vary from language to language, from where the German and English tenses are not exceptions. In this chapter, we could not find many differences in meaning between them, but their form and their place in sentences are different. I tried to lay the stress mostly on these forms and their placements in sentences, especially in German language.