Konjunktiv I for reported speech: er sagte, er habe keine Zeit

Der Minister sagte, er habe von nichts gewusst und werde die Vorwürfe prüfen.The minister said he had known nothing about it and would look into the accusations.

To relay what someone said as their words rather than your own claim, formal German marks the reported verb with Konjunktiv I — a special form built from the infinitive stem.

Quick shortcut: the workhorse is the 3rd person singular. Take er macht, drop the -t, add -e: er mache. sein is the one to memorise: er sei. When Konjunktiv I comes out identical to the ordinary present tense, switch that verb to Konjunktiv II instead.

How Konjunktiv I is formed

Infinitive stem + the endings -e, -est, -e, -en, -et, -en:

sein is the only irregular one, and the only verb with no -e in the ich and er forms (ich sei, er sei). For every other verb the er form ends in -e — and it is exactly that er mache (not er macht) that signals reported speech.

The 3rd person singular does the work

Most reported speech is "he / she said that …", so er / sie + Konjunktiv I is what you use most of the time:

• er komme, er habe, er sei, er wolle, er müsse, er werde

Each of these is clearly different from the indicative (er kommt, er hat, er ist …), so the reporting is unmistakable.

When Konjunktiv I looks like the indicative

In the ich form and throughout the plural, Konjunktiv I is usually spelled exactly like the ordinary present tense (ich gehe, wir haben, sie machen). When the reader needs to see that a sentence is reported speech and not the writer's own assertion, German reaches for a form that shows it — normally würde + infinitive or Konjunktiv II:

• "Sie arbeiten viel." → Er sagt, sie würden viel arbeiten.
• Synthetic Konjunktiv II works too where it differs from the indicative: sie kommen → er sagt, sie kämen. For many weak verbs it doesn't differ (sie arbeiteten is also the Präteritum), which is why würde is the safe default.
• Synthetic Konjunktiv II of strong verbs (sie gäben, sie träfen) is distinct from the indicative but can sound formal or literary; würde + infinitive is often the more natural pick in contemporary German.

Roughly, which form to reach for by person:

Tense: only three time levels

Reported speech collapses every tense of the original into three:

There is no tense backshift: a present statement stays present (arbeite) even when the introducing verb is in the past — Er sagte, er arbeite noch daran.

With or without dass

Both are fine:

• Er sagt, er sei müde. (no dass → verb second)
• Er sagt, dass er müde sei. (dass → verb last)

Where you'll meet it

News reports, minutes, academic summaries — anywhere a writer relays claims without vouching for them. In everyday speech people often just use the indicative (Er hat gesagt, er ist krank) or dass + indicative; Konjunktiv I is the mark of a careful, formal register. Reporting questions and commands follows its own patterns — that's the topic of reported speech: statements, questions and commands.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Er sagte, er ist im Büro. → ✅ Er sagte, er sei im Büro. (formal reported speech normally marks the quote with Konjunktiv I; the plain indicative reads as the writer's own claim)
• ❌ Sie meinte, sie hat keine Zeit gehabt. → ✅ Sie meinte, sie habe keine Zeit gehabt. (past → habe + Partizip II)
• ❌ Er sagte, er wäre krank when er sei is available → ✅ Er sagte, er sei krank. (use Konjunktiv I where it's distinct; wäre is only the fallback)
• ❌ "Ich bin krank." → Er sagte, er sei gewesen. → ✅ Er sagte, er sei krank. (present stays present, no backshift)
• ❌ Der Sprecher sagte, die Lage ist ernst, man werde reagieren. → ✅ …, die Lage sei ernst, man werde reagieren. (keep the whole report in Konjunktiv I)

Quick check

Put each quote into reported speech after Er sagte, … — 3rd person, no dass.

1. "Ich habe keine Angst." → Er sagte, er ___ keine Angst.
2. "Wir haben das Problem gelöst." → Er sagte, sie ___ das Problem ___.
3. "Ich werde morgen kommen." → Er sagte, er ___ morgen ___.
4. "Das Wetter ist schlecht." → Er sagte, das Wetter ___ schlecht.

Key takeaways

• Konjunktiv I = infinitive stem + -e / -est / -e / -en / -et / -en; sein is irregular (er sei).
• The 3rd person singular (er habe, er sei, er komme, er werde) carries almost all reported speech.
• When Konjunktiv I looks like the indicative (mostly ich and the plural), reach for würde + infinitive — or Konjunktiv II where it differs from the indicative — to keep the reported-speech reading clear.
• Only three time levels: present → er komme, any past → er habe / sei + Partizip II, future → er werde + infinitive. No English-style backshift.
• Works with or without dass (verb-second without it).
• It's a formal-register signal — spoken German often uses the plain indicative instead.