The Konjunktiv I beyond reported speech: Man nehme…, Es lebe…

Instructions: Man nehme…

You know the Konjunktiv I from indirect speech (B2): er habe, sie sei. With man it has a second job: a polite, general instruction. Man nehme drei Eier means take three eggs. That's how old cookbooks and old instructions are written.

Today recipes use the imperative (Nehmen Sie drei Eier) or simply the infinitive (Den Kohl fein schneiden). Man nehme now sounds old-fashioned or playful: Bruno uses it in his cookbook with a wink.

Two forms are still alive in written German: man beachte (note) and man denke an (just think of). Man denke nur an die Mieten in Berlin is a typical way to start an argument in an opinion piece.

• „Man nehme drei Gläser, einen kleinen Kohl und viel Geduld“, schreibt Bruno in seinem Kochbuch.

  'Take three jars, a small cabbage and plenty of patience,' Bruno writes in his cookbook.

• Man beachte, dass die Zahlen in der zweiten Tabelle nur für Berlin gelten.

  Note that the figures in the second table only apply to Berlin.

• Man denke nur an die alten Bäume im Park, die im Sommer die ganze Straße kühlen.

  Just think of the old trees in the park, which cool the whole street in summer.

Wishes and set phrases: Gott sei Dank

The Konjunktiv I can also express a wish: Es lebe das Brautpaar! (long live the bride and groom). Careful: the noun is the subject, so with a plural the verb is plural too: Es leben die Köche!

Many set phrases come from this use, and people say them every day without a thought for grammar: Gott sei Dank (thank God), Sei es drum (never mind, so be it), Wie dem auch sei (be that as it may), Koste es, was es wolle (whatever it costs).

The most useful one is es sei denn (unless). It joins two clauses, and the clause after it has normal word order: Wir grillen morgen, es sei denn, es regnet.

• Gott sei Dank hat es am Tag des Spendenlaufs nicht geregnet.

  Thank goodness it didn't rain on the day of the charity run.

• Auf der Hochzeit hebt Emil als Trauzeuge das Glas: „Es lebe das Brautpaar!“

  At the wedding Emil, as best man, raises his glass: 'Long live the bride and groom!'

• Wir starten um neun am See, es sei denn, das Wetter macht uns einen Strich durch die Rechnung.

  We'll start at nine by the lake, unless the weather throws a spanner in the works.

• Der Kuchen ist etwas zu dunkel geworden, aber sei es drum: Er schmeckt trotzdem.

  The cake has come out a bit too dark, but never mind - it still tastes good.

Maths and academic texts: Gegeben sei…

In maths, logic and science the Konjunktiv I sets something up that the rest of the text builds on: Gegeben sei ein Dreieck ABC (let ABC be a triangle). With a plural it is seien: Gegeben seien zwei Punkte A und B.

Academic texts use it with the passive: Es sei darauf hingewiesen, dass … (it should be pointed out that …). Hier sei nur ein Beispiel genannt (just one example will be given here). And at the start of a thesis: An dieser Stelle sei allen gedankt, die … (I would like to thank everyone who …).

These sentences sound formal and precise. In your own academic writing they are a good choice; in an email to a friend they would sound strange.

• Gegeben sei eine Stadt mit hundert Ampeln, die alle miteinander vernetzt sind.

  Let there be a city with a hundred traffic lights, all connected to one another.

• Es sei darauf hingewiesen, dass die Stichprobe nur aus zwanzig Parks besteht.

  It should be pointed out that the sample consists of only twenty parks.

• An dieser Stelle sei meiner Betreuerin gedankt, die mich drei Jahre lang begleitet hat.

  At this point I would like to thank my supervisor, who has supported me for three years.

Where you meet it today

Outside indirect speech the Konjunktiv I is rare in today's German, and it almost always stands in the third person: er, sie, es, man. One fixed exception: Seien wir ehrlich (let's be honest) works like Gehen wir! (let's go), only sein has the special form seien here.

So: use Gott sei Dank, es sei denn and wie dem auch sei freely, they are everyday German. Use man nehme only for fun, and forms like sei … genannt or sei darauf hingewiesen in academic writing. Everything else you only need to recognise when you read.

• Seien wir ehrlich: Am Sonntag hätten die meisten Leute gern eine offene Bibliothek.

  Let's be honest: most people would like the library to be open on Sundays.

• Wie dem auch sei, die Entscheidung über das Projekt fällt erst nächste Woche.

  Be that as it may, the decision on the project won't be made until next week.

• Heute schreibt man in Rezepten meistens den Infinitiv: Kohl fein schneiden und kräftig salzen.

  Today recipes mostly use the infinitive: finely slice the cabbage and salt it well.