I was thinking about this sentence.
Why exactly do we use “Sollen” in past tense?
Normally, this sentence is being used in the present.
Why exactly do we use “Sollen” in past tense?
Normally, this sentence is being used in the present.
Ich sollte gehen / why past tense?
RexV
August 8, 2019
Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor
August 20, 2019
Hallo RexV,
This actually isn't a regular past tense here; instead, it's in a form subjunctive called Konjunktiv II, which is like the conditional in English. So Ich sollte gehen is the equivalent of "I should go" in English.
You can find a brief explanation on the Konjunktiv II form of sollen in the section "SOLLEN vs. SOLLTEN" in Lesson 6.8 Helping Verbs: KÖNNEN and SOLLEN (https://members.rocketlanguages.com/members/german/lessons/4721), which will hopefully make things a bit clearer.
I hope that this was helpful!
Tschüss!
Liss
This actually isn't a regular past tense here; instead, it's in a form subjunctive called Konjunktiv II, which is like the conditional in English. So Ich sollte gehen is the equivalent of "I should go" in English.
You can find a brief explanation on the Konjunktiv II form of sollen in the section "SOLLEN vs. SOLLTEN" in Lesson 6.8 Helping Verbs: KÖNNEN and SOLLEN (https://members.rocketlanguages.com/members/german/lessons/4721), which will hopefully make things a bit clearer.
I hope that this was helpful!
Tschüss!
Liss