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When reviewing statements after a bank robbery, you often need to report what witnesses *said* happened. To relay someone else's account of a past event, German uses the past tense of *Konjunktiv I* (indirect speech).

### Forming the Past Konjunktiv I

Like the conversational past (Perfekt), the reported past uses a helper verb and a past participle. The difference is that you must use the *Konjunktiv I* form of the helper verb. 

For most verbs, the helper is **haben**, and its third-person singular form (he, she, it) in Konjunktiv I is **habe**.

When introduced with a **dass** (that) clause, the conjugated helper verb (**habe**) is kicked to the very end of the sentence.

{{item:881752}}

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### Dropping "dass" and Quoting Sources

Often, German drops **dass**. When this happens, the reported speech behaves like a normal main clause, with the helper verb in the second position.

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You will also see this standard main-clause word order when summarizing a statement using phrases like **Laut...** (According to...).

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### Using "sei" and "seien"

Just as in the standard past tense, verbs that describe travel, motion, or a change of state (like falling or fleeing) take the helper verb **sein** instead of **haben**. 

In *Konjunktiv I*, the third-person singular form is **sei**. This sentence uses both helpers to show the contrast:

{{item:881763}}

If the subject of the reported clause is plural ("they"), the helper verb becomes **seien**.

{{item:881768}}

Reported speech in the past (habe / sei)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
to testify	aussagen
masked	maskiert
The witness testified that someone had seen a masked man.	Der Zeuge sagte aus, dass jemand einen maskierten Mann gesehen habe.
the accomplice	der Komplize
The woman testified that the accomplice had waited outside.	Die Frau sagte aus, der Komplize habe draußen gewartet.
to demand (formally, to claim)	fordern
According to the employee, the perpetrator had demanded the money as a customer.	Laut dem Angestellten habe der Täter als Kunde das Geld gefordert.
the safe	der Tresor
to force	zwingen
He reported that the thief had forced him to the safe.	Er berichtete, dass der Dieb ihn zum Tresor gezwungen habe.
to threaten	bedrohen
No one reported that the masked perpetrator had threatened a child.	Niemand berichtete, dass der maskierte Täter ein Kind bedroht habe.
the shot	der Schuss
The police said he had threatened the guard, but no shot had been fired.	Die Polizei sagte, er habe den Wachmann bedroht, aber kein Schuss sei gefallen.
the getaway car	der Fluchtwagen
According to a witness, a shot had hit the getaway car.	Laut einem Zeugen habe ein Schuss den Fluchtwagen getroffen.
the loot	die Beute
The newspaper wrote that the accomplice had hidden the loot as a present.	Die Zeitung schrieb, der Komplize habe die Beute als Geschenk versteckt.
She stated that they had fled with the loot in the getaway car.	Sie sagte aus, dass sie mit der Beute im Fluchtwagen geflohen seien.
The president claimed that they had forced him and demanded the money.	Der Präsident behauptete, man habe ihn gezwungen und das Geld gefordert.
The witness reported the accomplice had opened the safe.	Der Zeuge berichtete, der Komplize habe den Tresor geöffnet.