Explaining and arranging

Everything in this lesson is something you will actually have to say. The grammar is finished; what is left is putting three or four pieces together fast enough to be useful.

Start with the most common thing of all: explaining why something did not happen. The shape is almost fixed, so it is worth learning as a shape.

Ich konnte nicht …, weil ich … musste. — Präteritum modal in front, Präteritum modal at the end.

• Ich konnte nicht kommen, weil ich arbeiten musste.

  I could not come because I had to work.

  both modals in the Präteritum; musste closes the weil-clause

• Es tut mir leid, ich hatte keine Zeit.

  I am sorry, I had no time.

• Als ich nach Hause kam, war es schon zu spät.

  When I got home it was already too late.

• Ich musste zum Arzt, weil ich krank war.

  I had to go to the doctor because I was ill.

  musste alone, without an infinitive, is normal with a destination

Next: changing a plan. This is where the Konjunktiv earns its keep — the same request with will instead of würde sounds like an instruction.

• Könnten wir den Termin verschieben?

  Could we postpone the appointment?

• Ich würde lieber am Freitag kommen.

  I would rather come on Friday.

  lieber = rather, the comparative of gern

• Wenn Freitag nicht geht, können wir auch Montag machen.

  If Friday does not work, we can do Monday too.

  a condition in the present → wenn

• Montag wäre besser für mich.

  Monday would be better for me.

Das geht is worth stealing whole. Freitag geht nicht. Geht Montag? Das geht. Germans use it constantly for whether a time works.

Finally: describing a problem, which is the same machinery pointed at something going wrong — say what happened, say what you could not do, then ask for help.

• Mein Zug hatte Verspätung.

  My train was delayed.

  literally "had delay" — haben, so Präteritum

• Ich konnte den Zug nicht nehmen.

  I could not take the train.

• Können Sie mir helfen?

  Can you help me?

• Die Heizung funktioniert nicht.

  The heating does not work.