The placement of the würde + infinitive construction within the paradigm of the German tense and mood system has long been a topic of discussion in German linguistics. The study takes on this discussion and examines this construction under the aspect of grammaticalization. The first part of the work aims to determine the exact function and paradigmatic placement of the construction in German spoken today. Part two of the work traces the historical development of the construction as a multi-branched process of grammaticalization.

Elena Smirnova, Universität Hannover