Unreal Past: hätt / wier + Participle

Unreal Past: Hätt or Wier + Participle

Level 4

Hätt or wier + participle is the unreal past: Wann ech dat gewosst hätt, wier ech doheem bliwwen. (If I had known that, I would have stayed at home.)

How It Works

1. Hätt or wier?
Keep the helper of the perfect and change it to its conditional form. See Perfect Tense With Hunn and Perfect Tense With Sinn.

  • hätt: ech hätt, du häss, hien/hatt hätt, mir hätten, dir hätt, si hätten
  • wier: ech wier, du wiers, hien/hatt wier, mir wieren, dir wiert, si wieren

The plurals follow the n-rule: mir hätten eis gefreet, but mir hätte keng Zäit gehat.

2. Conditions in the past
Both clauses use the unreal past. In the wann clause, the helper goes to the end. When the wann clause comes first, the main clause starts with its helper:

  • Wann ech dat gewosst hätt, wier ech doheem bliwwen.
  • Et wier net zu dësem Accident komm, wann de Chauffer méi lues gefuer wier.

The wann can also be left out. The helper then comes first: Hätt ech dat gewosst, ... See Conditions Without Wann.

3. On its own
The unreal past also works without a condition:

  • Mir hätten eis gefreet. (We would have been pleased.)
  • Ouni dech hätt ech dat ni gepackt. (Without you I would never have managed that.)
  • With bal (almost): Ech wier bal gefall. (I almost fell.)

4. Not géif
Do not use géif for the past. Ech géif kommen means I would come; for I would have come, say Ech wier komm. See Unreal Conditions for the present.

5. With a modal verb
For should have or could have, hätt takes two infinitives: Ech hätt dat misse wëssen. See Should Have.

Examples (6)

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

    If I had known that, I would have stayed at home.

    Wëssen takes hunn, so hätt; bleiwen takes sinn, so wier.

  2. Mir hätten eis gefreet.

    We would have been pleased.

  3. Ech wier bal gefall.

    I almost fell.

    With bal, the unreal past says that something nearly happened.

  4. Wann s de méi fréi fortgaange wiers, häss de den Zuch nach kritt.

    If you had left earlier, you would still have caught the train.

    The linking s after wann; wiers and häss are the du forms.

  5. Ouni dech hätt ech dat ni gepackt.

    Without you I would never have managed that.

  6. Et wier net zu dësem Accident komm, wann de Chauffer méi lues gefuer wier.

    This accident would not have happened if the driver had driven more slowly.

    Kommen and fueren both take sinn in the perfect, so both clauses use wier.

Common Mistakes

  • Choosing the wrong helper.

    Wann ech dat gewosst wier, ...
    Wann ech dat gewosst hätt, ...

    Wëssen takes hunn in the perfect (ech hunn et gewosst), so it takes hätt here.

  • Using géif for the past.

    Ech géif gëschter komm sinn.
    Ech wier gëschter komm.

    Géif does not combine with a participle for the past. Use wier or hätt with the participle.

  • Leaving the helper in second place inside the wann clause.

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

    Wann sends the conjugated verb to the end, so hätt comes after the participle.

How It Connects

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Unreal Past: hätt / wier + ParticipleLevel 4Unreal Past: Hätt or Wier + Participle

Learn This First

Before Unreal Past: Hätt or Wier + Participle, learn Unreal Conditions: Wann ... géif and The Pluperfect: Hat or War + Participle.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

hunn