Breakdown of Ich hätte mich geschämt, wenn ich den Nachtisch vergessen hätte.
ich
I
haben
to have
vergessen
to forget
wenn
if / when (conditional, not a question word)
sich schämen
to be ashamed
der Nachtisch
the dessert
Questions & Answers about Ich hätte mich geschämt, wenn ich den Nachtisch vergessen hätte.
Why do we use hätte twice in this sentence, while English says "would have" and "had"?
In German, both halves of an unfulfilled past condition (the "if" part and the result part) use the Konjunktiv II form. While English uses different structures for each side ("had forgotten" vs. "would have been"), German uses hätte (or wäre) + the past participle in both clauses.
Why is the word mich needed here?
The verb for "to be ashamed" in German is reflexive: sich schämen (literally "to shame oneself"). Since the subject is ich, you must include the accusative reflexive pronoun mich alongside the past participle geschämt.
Why doesn't the past participle vergessen start with ge-?
Verbs that start with an inseparable prefix, such as ver-, be-, or ent-, never add a ge- in their past participle form. Because of the ver- prefix, the past participle of vergessen remains simply vergessen.
Why does the second hätte go at the very end of the sentence?
The second half of the sentence is a subordinate clause introduced by wenn (if). The word wenn always kicks the conjugated verb—in this case, the helper verb hätte—to the very end of the clause, placing it after the past participle vergessen.
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