Introduction: Yes, we have subjunctives in English, and you probably use them every day, much more than you realize.  But because you probably don't realize you are doing it, trying to use the English subjunctives to help you learn the German seems likely to produce more confusion than anything else. Just focus on the German! Then, after you understand the German, you may find it interesting to use the German to help you realize what you are doing in English.

I. Terminology

The subjunctive is a mood, not a tense. Verbs have three moods: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive. The basic idea of the subjunctive is that it expresses situations that are, or may be, contrary to fact.

German has two subjunctives. For now, we are dealing with the 

To avoid confusion, we will use the terms present-time subjunctive II and  past-time subjunctive II.  

II. Forms of the present-time subjunctive II

The Subjunctive II is easy to form, assuming you know how to form the simple past and the perfect tense. 

The subjunctive endings:

ich -e wir -en

du -est ihr -et

er/sie/es -e sie -en
 

Regular verbs.

To the stem, add the -t- of the simple past, plus the subjunctive ending. This produces a form that looks just like the simple past.

Example: take machen. The stem is mach-. Add the -t- and the personal ending -e, and you get er machte, which looks just like the simple past.

Irregular verbs: general rule.

To the stem of the simple past, add the subjunctive endings. Umlaut the stem vowel if possible, i.e. if it is a, o, or u.

For example: take sein. The simple past is war. Umlaut the a, add the subjunctive endings, and you get
 

ich wäre wir wären

du wärest ihr wäret

er/sie/es wäre sie wären.
 

Note that although war is an irregular form, the derivation of the subjunctive from war is completely regular. The same applies to haben (simple past: hatte).
 

ich hätte wir hätten

du hättest ihr hättet

er/sie/es hätte sie hätten
 

Most irregular verbs work this way. Once you know the irregular simple past form, the formation of the subjunctive from that is perfectly regular. A few irregular verbs form their subjunctives in unusual ways.
 

Unusual irregulars.
 

A very few strong verbs have irregular subjunctives: helfen - hülfe, sterben - stürbe, werfen - würfe. For helfen, hälfe is also used. Stehen can be either stände or stünde.
 

Mixed verbs.

Umlaut the stem vowel of the simple past. But for brennen, kennen, nennen, senden, wenden and similar verbs, spell the altered vowel as e, not ä.

Examples: denken - dächte, bringen - brächte, but brennen - brennte, nennen - nennte.
 

Modal verbs.

Umlaut the stem vowel of the simple past, except with wollen and sollen (with them, the subjunctive looks just like the simple past).

Example:
 

ich könnte wir könnten

du könntest ihr könntet

er/sie/es könnte sie könnten.
 
 

würde-paraphrase
 

For all verbs, an alternative to the present-time subjunctive II is formed by using the subjunctive II of werden with the infinitive. Ich würde gehen. Er würde sein. Sie würden kommen. The würde-paraphrase is identical in meaning to the subjunctive II of the main verb: ich würde gehen means exactly the same thing as ich ginge. Usage will be discussed below. 

III. Basic use of the Subjunctive II

The basic idea of the subjunctive is that it expresses situations that are, or may be, contrary to fact. When we use the indicative, we assert that something is a fact; when we use the subjunctive we assert that something might be a fact (or might not be), that we would like for something to be a fact (but it isn't), that something might be a fact under certain circumstances. Derived from this basic idea of subjunctiveness are the uses of the subjunctive for politeness and other purposes (below).

In this section, the subjunctive II and the würde-paraphrase are treated as identical. The subjunctive II is used in the following situations.
 

A. Hypothetical statements and questions.

Das wäre schön.

Was möchtest du tun?
 

B. Unreal or contrafactual conditional sentences.

Wenn wir genug Geld hätten, würden wir im Sommer nach Deutschland fahren.

The implication is that we do not have enough money, but if we did, we would go to Germany.

Distinguish this from the indicative sentence

Wenn wir genug Geld haben, fahren wir im Sommer nach Deutschland.

We may have enough money, we don't know yet for sure, but if we do, we will definitely go to Germany.

NOTE: English usage is exactly parallel to German in sentences like these.

Subjunctive: If we had enough money, we would go to Germany in the summer.

Indicative: If we have enough money, we will go to Germany this summer.

(See "Do we have the subjunctive in English?" below.)
 

Such conditional sentences do not always involve the two-clause, if . . . then construction. Consider these examples (from Durrell 212):

Bei dem Wetter wäre ich nicht in Urlaub gefahren.

Ich würde sonst das Fenster aufmachen.

Ich hätte schon an sie geschrieben, nur habe ich ihre Adresse nicht gewußt.
 

C. Wishes.

Wenn ich nur reich wäre!

Ich wünschte, wir hätten mehr Zeit.
 

D. Politeness subjunctives, used "to moderate the tone of an assertion, a statement, a request or a question and make it sound more polite" or less assertive.⁽¹⁾ This is extremely common in all types and levels of German. If anything, it is more common in colloquial German than in more formal German.
 

Könnten Sie mir sagen, wie ich zum Bahnhof komme?

Verkäuferin (etwa in der Bäckerei): Sonst noch etwas? Kunde: Nein, das wäre es für heute.

Ich hätte gern ein Wienerschnitzel mit Pommes.

Würdest du mir das Brot reichen?

Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
 

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For all verbs, take the present perfect, and use the correct subjunctive II form of the auxiliary verb. Examples:
 

ich hätte gemacht   (Present perfect is ich habe gemacht)

du wärest gekommen

er hätte gearbeitet

Alternative with würde.

V. Additional uses of the Subjunctive II

Er gibt Geld aus, als ob er reich wäre.

B. Achievements after difficult or delay. (See the discussion at canoo.net.)

The subjunctive may be used to express that something has been achieved, but only after difficulty or delay.  The situation is not hyopthetical or contrary to fact; the subjunctive seems to express that the situation was almost contrary to fact, or was contrary to fact for a long time.

Examples from canoo.net:

Da wäre dann endlich Ihre Bestellung!      =     Hier ist endlich Ihre Bestellung.
Das hätten wir geschafft!      =     Wir haben es geschafft!
Somit wäre dieses Problem gelöst.      =     Somit ist dieses Problem gelöst.

C. Expresion of doubt in questions or statements.  (See the discussion at canoo.net.)

It is a short step from the use of the subjunctive for hypotheticals to its use to express doubt, or to indicate that you are assuming something to be true, but aren't really certain about it. 

Examples from canoo.net:

VI. One-word subjunctive or würde-paraphrase?

As noted above, there is no difference in meaning between, for example, er führe nach Deutschland and er würde nach Deutschland fahren. A speaker's choice of one form or another is determined by a variety of factors, including stylistic register, the particular structure being used, the verb involved, and perhaps other factors, including the speaker's level of education.⁽²⁾
 

a) Use the one-word subjunctive II, not the würde-form, of haben, sein, werden, and the modals.

b) Don't even consider the würde-form for the fixed expressions es gäbe ("there would be");
es / das ginge ("It / that would be ok."), also in question form: Ginge das?; Nicht dass ich wüsste ("Not that I know of.").

c) Except as noted in b) and c), you can generally use the würde-form in speech and the one-word form in writing for irregular verbs.

d) Especially in written German, there is a tendency, in wenn . . . dann conditional sentences, to use one-word forms in the wenn-clause and würde-forms in the dann-clause: Wenn er mehr Zeit und Geld hätte, würde er öfter in Restaurants essen. But this is by no means a requirement.
  

Note: würde+infnitive is not always a paraphrase.  

1) Würde+infinitive also has a use for referring to the future in a narrative about the past.   

At that time I didn't know yet how weak I am: I didn't know that I would be afraid. I could not imagine what this night would make of me . . . .

VII. Do we have the subjunctive in English?

NOTE: If you find the discussion of the English subjunctives interesting or useful; if thinking about the English helps you understand the German, or if thinking about the German helps you understand the English, great! Enjoy this section. If thinking about the English forms just confuses you, then you can ignore this section.

Do we have the subjunctive in English? Yes, and we use it all the time, in much the same way as it is used in German. However, much more often than not, the subjunctive looks and sounds just like some other verb form.
 

Just as in German, we have two subjunctives. One is derived from the simple past tense, like the German Subjunctive II. For most verbs, it is identical to the simple past. If I had enough money, I would go to Germany every summer. If she ran a little faster, she would be unbeatable. But to be has distinct subjunctives in the first and third person singular: I were (simple past was), he/she/it were (simple past was). If I were you, I wouldn't do that. Another subjunctive is derived from the present tense, like the German Subjunctive I. Like its German counterpart, it has a distinctive form only in the third person singular: he have, she drive, it sponsor. Here, again, to be is different, and uses be in all persons and numbers as a subjunctive: Be that as it may. Far be it from me to . . . . We also frequently paraphrase the subjunctive with would (or should) plus an infinitive, as in the clauses with would go and would be above.
 

In English, we use our "Subjunctive II" mainly in conditional sentences (as in the examples above) and to express situations contrary to fact: I wish I were rich. This is perfectly normal, everyday English. You can't substitute the present tense at all in many cases. *If I have enough money, I would go to Germany every summer just sounds nonsensical. If I have enough money, I go to Germany every summer has a different meaning. ?If I would have enough money, I would go to Germany every summer may be grammatical, but also may sound a little odd. The simple past is sometimes substituted for the "subjunctive II" of to be: If I was you, I wouldn't do that. I wish I was rich. This may be regarded as informal, colloquial, or substandard, but speakers who use the simple past in these constructions are still using a distinct verb form to express "subjunctiveness." You might say If I were you or If I was you, but you will not say *If I am you, I wouldn't do that.
 

We use our "Subjunctive I" mainly in "recommendations, resolutions, commands, and statements of necessity" (Cook 197): The dean recommends that the department offer an evening course. This may seem rather formal, but the indicative offers is impossible here. The less formal alternatives are completely different, for example: The dean asks the department to offer an evening course. The usage is by no means limited to learned or academic language. Here's an example from USA Today: Vice President George Bush phoned Noriega . . . asking that Noriega warn Fidel Castro not to interfere in the operation (quoted in Burchfield 747). Again, the indicative warns would not be possible; the alternative would be asking Noriega to warn . . . .
 

We also use both our subjunctives in a large variety of fossilized expressions and idioms, perhaps without mentally processing the verbs as subjunctives: be that as it may, God forbid, God bless you, so help me God, God damn it, come what may.

1. Quotation from Durrell 214.

2. Durell (209-10) provides an excellent discussion of this matter.

Most if not all elementary German textbooks and surely all textbooks intended for the intermediate level and up contain presentations of the subjunctive. The problem is that the terminology used is often confusing and some of the things said about the usage and even the forms are misleading.
 

An excellent discussion of the forms and especially the usage of the subjunctive in German may be found in

Martin Durrell, Using German: A Guide to Contemporary Usage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 208-214.

There are citations here to "MGG," which is Bill Dodd et al., Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide, 2nd edition (Routledge, 2003), and to 

"canoo," which is www.canoo.net, an excellent general reference site for German grammar.

On the English subjunctive, see the following:
 

Burchfield, R. W., ed. The New Fowler's Modern English Usage. 3rd ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.

Cook, Claire Kehrwald. The MLA's Line by Line: How to Edit your Own Writing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.

Follett, Wilson. Modern American Usage: A Guide. New York: Hill and Wang, 1966. 

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