Conditional Inversion in German: Dropping wenn (C2)
Form formal, literary conditionals by omitting wenn and fronting the subjunctive verb — Hätte ich Zeit, … instead of Wenn ich Zeit hätte, …
German lets you build a conditional clause without the conjunction wenn. Instead of Wenn ich Zeit hätte, … you drop wenn and move the finite (subjunctive) verb to the very first position: Hätte ich Zeit, …. This is called the uneingeleiteter Konditionalsatz (conditional inversion). The verb is almost always a Konjunktiv form — hätte, wäre, würde, sollte, könnte — because the construction overwhelmingly expresses unreal (Typ II) or past unreal (Typ III) conditions.
The main clause then follows. It may begin with a resumptive so or dann (Hätte ich Zeit, so würde ich kommen.) or, more commonly, with the verb directly: Hätte ich Zeit, würde ich kommen. Note that the main clause keeps normal verb-second order, so the conjugated verb stays in position two — würde ich, not ich würde.
Register matters: this inversion is formal and literary. You will meet it in written argumentation, journalism, fixed phrases (Wäre ich an deiner Stelle …, Sollte es regnen, …), and C2 exam texts. In everyday speech the wenn-clause is far more usual, so reserve the inverted form for polished writing.
Examples
Hätte ich mehr Zeit, würde ich dir helfen.
If I had more time, I would help you.
Hätte er es gesagt, wäre das nicht passiert.
Had he said it, this would not have happened.
Common mistakes
After the inverted conditional, the main clause keeps verb-second (würde ich), and dann is dropped or the verb still comes right after it.