Introduced in Lesson 190. Everyday spoken German reports speech with a dass-clause; formal written German (news, official texts) uses Konjunktiv I instead. You only need to recognize Konjunktiv I for now, not produce it.
Er sagt: "Ich bin müde." (He says: "I'm tired.")
Er sagt, dass er müde ist. (He says that he is tired.)
Sie hat gesagt, dass sie keine Zeit hat. (She said that she doesn't have time.)
| Normal form | Konjunktiv I | Infinitive |
|---|---|---|
| ist | sei | sein |
| hat | habe | haben |
| kann | könne | können |
| muss | müsse | müssen |
| wird | werde | werden |
Der Minister sagte, die Lage sei ernst. (The minister said the situation was serious.)
Die Firma teilte mit, sie werde neue Stellen schaffen. (The company announced it would create new jobs.)
Recognition strategy: when reading news, treat sei/habe/könne/müsse/werde as markers that you are reading someone's reported words, not a direct statement of fact from the writer - then mentally substitute the normal present-tense form to understand the meaning.
Aligned with standard Goethe-Zertifikat B1 / telc B1 exam syllabus topics.