Meine Mutter sagt, die Steuer für das Auto sei gestiegen.

to be

Breakdown of Meine Mutter sagt, die Steuer für das Auto sei gestiegen.

• das Auto: the car
• für: for
• meine: my; (feminine or plural, nominative or accusative)

Questions & Answers about Meine Mutter sagt, die Steuer für das Auto sei gestiegen.

Why does the sentence use sei gestiegen instead of ist gestiegen?

The form sei gestiegen is the Konjunktiv I (subjunctive I) of the perfect tense in reported speech. It signals that you are relaying what your mother said rather than stating it as a fact yourself. In direct speech you’d say „Die Steuer ist gestiegen.“ In reported speech German prefers Konjunktiv I to mark the source of information.

What exactly is Konjunktiv I and when do I use it?

Konjunktiv I is a mood used primarily for indirect or reported speech. You form it from the infinitive stem of the verb plus specific endings. For sein the present Konjunktiv I form is sei, and you pair it with the past participle for perfect tenses: sei gestiegen. Use Konjunktiv I whenever you want to report someone else’s words without quoting them directly.

Why is there no dass before die Steuer in the subordinate clause?

After verbs like sagen, German allows two types of subordinate clauses: • with dass (e.g. Meine Mutter sagt, dass die Steuer gestiegen ist.)
• without dass, if you use Konjunktiv I (e.g. …, die Steuer sei gestiegen.)
By omitting dass and using Konjunktiv I you keep the sentence more concise and clearly show it’s reported speech.

Why does the verb appear at the very end of the clause?