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Comment dit-on « I’ll tell you what » ?

The use of konnte

Konjunktiv II – when to use “wäre”, and when to use “würde”How common is the usage of the conjuntive mood in the German language?Use of Konjunktiv I in “es sei denn, …”When to use German subjunctive?Was ist der Unterschied zwischen “könne” und “konnte”?Why should we use the indicative in “wie ich es auch durchaus verstand, daß die Leute mich nach meinem Tod vergaßen”?Why the need to use the Konjunktiv II “hätte” in this sentence?konjunktiv 1, first person singular perfect, should I use konjunkiv 2?Help with the use of the subjunctiveNon-standard use of the Konjunktiv I

1

Mir muss Lernen Spaß machen. Spielen macht mir Spaß, aber auch Lesen.
Deshalb lese ich gerne Co­mics in einer Fremdsprache oder spannende
Ge­schichten. Dabei merke ich mir die Wörter viel schneller. So habe
ich auch Schwedisch gelernt. Erst habe ich Wörter gelesen, dann
Sätze. Irgendwann konnte ich ein System erkennen.

Why "konnte" here? Why not just “kann”? Is the narrator emphasising that he had a system at some point in the past but not anymore?

Dankeschön im Voraus!

subjunctive

share|improve this question

asked 12 hours ago

Yan LinYan Lin

61

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1

Mir muss Lernen Spaß machen. Spielen macht mir Spaß, aber auch Lesen.
Deshalb lese ich gerne Co­mics in einer Fremdsprache oder spannende
Ge­schichten. Dabei merke ich mir die Wörter viel schneller. So habe
ich auch Schwedisch gelernt. Erst habe ich Wörter gelesen, dann
Sätze. Irgendwann konnte ich ein System erkennen.

Why "konnte" here? Why not just “kann”? Is the narrator emphasising that he had a system at some point in the past but not anymore?

Dankeschön im Voraus!

subjunctive

share|improve this question

asked 12 hours ago

Yan LinYan Lin

61

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Yan Lin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

Mir muss Lernen Spaß machen. Spielen macht mir Spaß, aber auch Lesen.
Deshalb lese ich gerne Co­mics in einer Fremdsprache oder spannende
Ge­schichten. Dabei merke ich mir die Wörter viel schneller. So habe
ich auch Schwedisch gelernt. Erst habe ich Wörter gelesen, dann
Sätze. Irgendwann konnte ich ein System erkennen.

Why "konnte" here? Why not just “kann”? Is the narrator emphasising that he had a system at some point in the past but not anymore?

Dankeschön im Voraus!

subjunctive

share|improve this question

asked 12 hours ago

Yan LinYan Lin

61

New contributor

Yan Lin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

asked 12 hours ago

Yan LinYan Lin

61

New contributor

Yan Lin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

asked 12 hours ago

Yan LinYan Lin

61

New contributor

Yan Lin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 12 hours ago

Yan LinYan Lin

61

New contributor

Yan Lin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 12 hours ago

Yan LinYan Lin

61

2 Answers
2

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3

The writer describes the general conditions that make language learning easy for them. This statement is valid at the time of the text, so it uses present tense, Präsens.

Then they give an example from the past (when they were learning Swedish), which therefore uses the tenses of the past, i.e. Perfekt and Präteritum.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

StephieStephie

21.3k25799

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  An addition, konnte is only used as a shortcut. It would be correct to say Irgendwann habe ich ein System erkennen können.
  
  – Janka
  11 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I don't think the relationship between the two past tenses can be characterized as one being a shortcut for the other.
  
  – David Vogt
  26 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

3

At first, the writer explains his/her methodology for language learning.

From the 5th sentence on, the writer says that these general conditions helped him/her to learn Swedish ("That's how I learned Swedish").

During this period, the writer could recognize this learning system ("At some point I could recognize a system"). That's an action that happened in the past (therefore, the use of konnte is correct), but that doesn't mean that this system doesn't exist anymore.

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

SockenbaumSockenbaum

364

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Sockenbaum is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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3

The writer describes the general conditions that make language learning easy for them. This statement is valid at the time of the text, so it uses present tense, Präsens.

Then they give an example from the past (when they were learning Swedish), which therefore uses the tenses of the past, i.e. Perfekt and Präteritum.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

StephieStephie

21.3k25799

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  An addition, konnte is only used as a shortcut. It would be correct to say Irgendwann habe ich ein System erkennen können.
  
  – Janka
  11 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I don't think the relationship between the two past tenses can be characterized as one being a shortcut for the other.
  
  – David Vogt
  26 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

3

The writer describes the general conditions that make language learning easy for them. This statement is valid at the time of the text, so it uses present tense, Präsens.

Then they give an example from the past (when they were learning Swedish), which therefore uses the tenses of the past, i.e. Perfekt and Präteritum.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

StephieStephie

21.3k25799

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  An addition, konnte is only used as a shortcut. It would be correct to say Irgendwann habe ich ein System erkennen können.
  
  – Janka
  11 hours ago
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I don't think the relationship between the two past tenses can be characterized as one being a shortcut for the other.
  
  – David Vogt
  26 mins ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

The writer describes the general conditions that make language learning easy for them. This statement is valid at the time of the text, so it uses present tense, Präsens.

Then they give an example from the past (when they were learning Swedish), which therefore uses the tenses of the past, i.e. Perfekt and Präteritum.

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

StephieStephie

21.3k25799

share|improve this answer

answered 11 hours ago

StephieStephie

21.3k25799

answered 11 hours ago

StephieStephie

21.3k25799

answered 11 hours ago

StephieStephie

21.3k25799

3

At first, the writer explains his/her methodology for language learning.

From the 5th sentence on, the writer says that these general conditions helped him/her to learn Swedish ("That's how I learned Swedish").

During this period, the writer could recognize this learning system ("At some point I could recognize a system"). That's an action that happened in the past (therefore, the use of konnte is correct), but that doesn't mean that this system doesn't exist anymore.

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

SockenbaumSockenbaum

364

New contributor

Sockenbaum is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

3

At first, the writer explains his/her methodology for language learning.

From the 5th sentence on, the writer says that these general conditions helped him/her to learn Swedish ("That's how I learned Swedish").

During this period, the writer could recognize this learning system ("At some point I could recognize a system"). That's an action that happened in the past (therefore, the use of konnte is correct), but that doesn't mean that this system doesn't exist anymore.

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

SockenbaumSockenbaum

364

New contributor

Sockenbaum is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

At first, the writer explains his/her methodology for language learning.

From the 5th sentence on, the writer says that these general conditions helped him/her to learn Swedish ("That's how I learned Swedish").

During this period, the writer could recognize this learning system ("At some point I could recognize a system"). That's an action that happened in the past (therefore, the use of konnte is correct), but that doesn't mean that this system doesn't exist anymore.

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

SockenbaumSockenbaum

364

New contributor

Sockenbaum is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this answer

answered 9 hours ago

SockenbaumSockenbaum

364

New contributor

Sockenbaum is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

answered 9 hours ago

SockenbaumSockenbaum

364

New contributor

Sockenbaum is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

answered 9 hours ago

SockenbaumSockenbaum

364