Knowing how to pronounce hätte correctly in German is one thing. Using it correctly is another.

In today's German lesson you'll learn both how to say hätte correctly and how to use it in a few specific phrases.

Imagine how confident you'll feel knowing exactly what to say and pronouncing everything correctly. This will be a step up for your German.

Plus you'll learn how to say "shoulda, woulda, coulda" in German, which uses hätte, and will surely impress your German friends the next time they express regret and you respond with this.

N.B. The Weekly German Practice is closed. And while the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast no longer exists, you can still hear all of the audios here on the blog. The audios are available on the blog posts published between August 1, 2021 and October 1, 2024. Viel Spaß beim Hören!

N.B. The A1-A2-B1 German Sentence Structure Guide has been expanded and made part of the tuition for clients in classes and lessons.

Hätte

h-a-Umlaut-t-t-e

“Ich hätte gern” was probably the first phrase you learned for ordering in German in a restaurant.

After that, you don't learn much about hätte until you reach the B1 level.

Today's episode is a mix of A1, A2, and B1 to B2 level sentences.

Including how to say “shoulda, woulda, coulda” in German. It's great fun.

First: pronunciation.

The A-Umlaut makes a huge difference!

Different characters

haben

hätte

Here are a few sentences for A1 learners (review for A2-B2 levels):

Ich hätte gern eine Bratwurst mit Senf, bitte!

Wir hätten gern noch ein Glas Riesling.

Und Sie? Was hätten Sie gern?

Ich hätte gern simply means “I'd like to have...” You can use it for more than food and drink though, for example: Veronika hätte gern ein großes Haus. Aber die Susanne? Sie nicht. Sie hätte gern nur ein kleines Haus.

Ooo, what about this one for you A2 learners: “Was hättest du gern zum Geburtstag?” oder “Was hättest du gern zu Weihnachten?” What lovely questions!

You can comment on things in the past this way, too, once you're comfortable with both hätte and the Perfekt, which means you're moving in the realm of B1 to B2 levels.

Ich hätte gern einen Volkswagen gekauft, aber es war damals zu teuer.

Als Kinder hätten wir gern einen Hund gehabt. Aber leider hatten wir keinen Hund.

Julia hätte das Buch schon gelesen, aber sie musste doch noch arbeiten.

And most frequently you'll use this hätte in combination with wäre and also würde + other verbs.

But that's for another day.

How to say shoulda woulda coulda in German:

Hätte, hätte, Fahrradkette!

Could have, could have, bike chain!

Hätte, hätte, Fahrradkette!

If you think you should, or you could, or you would, but you don't, then all I can say to that is:

Hätte hätte Fahrradkette!

Das ist genug für heute. Passen Sie gut auf sich auf!