Conditions Without wann

Level 6

A condition can start with its verb instead of wann: Hätt ech dat gewosst, wier ech doheem bliwwen. (Had I known that, I would have stayed at home.) This sounds formal or written.

How It Works

1. How it is built
A normal condition starts with wann and puts the verb at the end. In a verb-first condition, wann disappears and the conjugated verb moves to the very front:

  • Wann ech dat gewosst hätt, ...
  • Hätt ech dat gewosst, ... (Had I known that, ...)

The meaning does not change. Only the style does: the verb-first form sounds formal and is found mostly in writing, the news and careful speech. In everyday talk, people usually say wann.

2. Which verbs
You will mostly see the conditional forms wier and hätt, for imagined or unreal past situations:

  • Wier d'Krankheet am Ufank net verharmloost ginn, wier et net zu enger Epidemie komm. (Had the disease not been played down at the start, it would not have become an epidemic.)
  • Wier ech an denger Plaz, géif ech reklaméieren. (If I were you, I would complain.)

Sollt at the front means should it happen or in case. The main clause can be in the present:

  • Sollt et muer reenen, da bleiwe mer doheem. (Should it rain tomorrow, we will stay at home.)

3. The main clause
The condition fills the first position, so the main clause starts with its verb. This is the same rule as in subordinate clause first. You can also start the main clause with dann, which becomes da before most consonants because of the n-rule:

  • Hätt ech dat gewosst, wier ech doheem bliwwen.
  • Hätt ech dat gewosst, da wier ech doheem bliwwen.

4. Not a question
A verb-first condition looks like a yes or no question. The comma and the main clause after it show that it is a condition. Without a main clause, the same shape can express a wish: Hätt ech dat nëmme gewosst! See wishes with nëmmen.

Examples (5)

  1. Wier d'Krankheet am Ufank net verharmloost ginn, wier et net zu enger Epidemie komm.

    Had the disease not been played down at the start, it would not have become an epidemic.

    Word by Word: Were the disease at-the start not downplayed become, were it not to an epidemic come.

    A typical sentence from the news. With wann it would be: Wann d'Krankheet ... net verharmloost gi wier, ...

  2. Hätt ech dat gewosst, wier ech doheem bliwwen.

    Had I known that, I would have stayed at home.

    Hätt ech dat gewosst means the same as wann ech dat gewosst hätt.

  3. Wier ech an denger Plaz, géif ech reklaméieren.

    If I were you, I would complain.

    Word by Word: Were I in your place, would I complain.

  4. Sollt et muer reenen, da bleiwe mer doheem.

    Should it rain tomorrow, we will stay at home.

    Sollt at the front means in case it happens. Dann becomes da before b, and bleiwen loses its n before mer.

  5. Hätte mer méi Zäit gehat, da wiere mer nach laanscht d'Musel gefuer.

    If we had had more time, we would also have driven along the Moselle.

    Hätten and wieren lose their final n before mer because of the n-rule.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping wann and also moving the verb to the front.

    Wann hätt ech dat gewosst, wier ech doheem bliwwen.
    Hätt ech dat gewosst, wier ech doheem bliwwen.

    Choose one pattern: either wann with the verb at the end (Wann ech dat gewosst hätt) or no wann with the verb at the front (Hätt ech dat gewosst).

  • Putting the subject right after dann in the main clause.

    Hätt ech dat gewosst, dann ech wier doheem bliwwen.
    Hätt ech dat gewosst, da wier ech doheem bliwwen.

    Dann takes the first place of the main clause, so the verb wier comes right after it. Before w, dann becomes da because of the n-rule.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Conditions Without wannLevel 6

Learn This First

Before Conditions Without Wann, learn Unreal Past: Hätt or Wier + Participle.

Words in This Pattern

dann