Also, some Subjunctive II forms tend to be part of fixed expressions:Es gäbe ‘there would be’ (from es gibt ‘there is/there are’: see also 69.1)
Es ginge ‘it would be OK’ (from es geht ‘it is OK’)
Nicht dass ich wüsste ‘Not that I’m aware of/Not that I know of’For other verbs, würde + infinitive is increasingly used, especially in spoken
German.See also^58 (pp. 146–8).
(c) The Subjunctive II forms of weak verbs (e.g. arbeitete; verdiente) are
indistinguishable from ordinary simple past tenses. In a conditional sentence (39.8),
at least one of the two verbs (either one) needs to be marked as a conditional and this is
done using würde + infinitive. For this reason, the würde construction is widely used
with weak verbs:Wenn ich länger arbeitete, würde ich kaum mehr Geld verdienen.
Wenn ich länger arbeiten würde, verdiente ich kaum mehr Geld.
If I worked longer I would hardly earn any more money.As long as one of the two verbs in this kind of ‘if... then’ construction is clearly
marked as conditional, this is enough to show that the whole sentence is a conditional,
and the other verb may appear in the (ambiguous) Subjunctive II form. However, the
use of würde + infinitive in both halves of such a sentence is ungainly and tends to be
avoided. Frequently a modal verb in Subjunctive II is found here:Wenn ich länger arbeiten würde, könnte ich kaum mehr Geld
verdienen.
If I worked longer I could hardly earn any more money.(d) The würde construction is also frequently used with strong verbs, since many
German speakers are uncomfortable with the Subjunctive II forms of some verbs:Wenn sie langsamer reden könnte, verstünde ich sie besser.
Wenn sie langsamer reden könnte, würde ich sie besser verstehen.
If she could talk more slowly I would understand her better.(e) The würde construction is widely used when there are several main verbs in a
sequence, some of which may be weak and some of which may be strong:Wenn er jetzt käme, würden wir Feierabend machen, ein Bier trinken,
und ins Kino gehen.
If he came now we would knock off work, have a beer, and go to the
cinema.39.8 Conditionals
(a) Although conditional expressions (of the kind ‘If... , then... ’) often have the verb
in the subjunctive, this is not always the case. Using a verb which is not in the
subjunctive implies that the event being described is being viewed as probable, in some
sense ‘real’:Wenn ich morgen Zeit habe, komme ich.
If I have time tomorrow I will come.39
Subjunctive