Präteritum (simple past)

In a box of old photos at a flea market, Sofia finds a picture of her late grandfather in front of a house she has never seen. She decides to find out where it is.

Relativsatz (relative clause) · Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

Jan's smart house controls the lights, the heating and the door, so he no longer needs a key. Then, on a rainy evening, his phone shows a message he has never seen before.

Relativsatz (relative clause) · Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

The Novak family is late for a wedding, and Grandma Ruža has brought her old road map. Nobody needs it, says her son: the GPS knows everything.

Präteritum (simple past) · Konjunktiv II (would, could) · 7 new words

A mysterious parcel addressed to a certain “Mr Bello” sits in the stairwell for days, and the neighbours can't agree on what to do with it. Then Lena, who has just moved in, hears something that gives her an idea.

Präteritum (simple past) · Relativsatz (relative clause) · 7 new words

A village football club from the lowest league suddenly has to play a Bundesliga team in the cup. Ten thousand people come to watch, and nobody expects a miracle.

Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

On a walk in the park, Anna hears loud shouts – and suddenly finds herself in a football game she never planned.

Präteritum (simple past) · 8 new words

One by one, the bikes in a courtyard disappear, and a few days later they are back, in better shape than before. A teacher on the ground floor decides to find out who is behind it.

Präteritum (simple past) · Relativsatz (relative clause) · 7 new words

While renovating their old house, Karim and Dorota find a yellowed letter behind the wall panelling. It was written in 1957, and nobody has ever read it.

Relativsatz (relative clause) · Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

Petra trains for six months for her first marathon, while her friend Ines, who hates sport, thinks she's crazy. At kilometre thirty, Petra's legs feel like concrete and she wants to stop.

Konjunktiv II (would, could) · Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

Ivana enters the village cooking competition with her grandmother's paprika stew. The problem: there has never been a written recipe.

Präteritum (simple past) · Relativsatz (relative clause) · 8 new words

A red suitcase stands alone on platform three, and soon the whole station is closed. When the police finally open it, they find something nobody expected.

Präteritum (simple past) · Relativsatz (relative clause) · 6 new words

The Haddads look after their neighbour's parrot for two weeks. “He only talks a little,” she says – but Kasimir listens to everything, and he has a very good memory.

Relativsatz (relative clause) · Präteritum (simple past) · 6 new words

Bilal is training to be a baker, and his alarm rings at three every morning. At first he hates it, until one early morning he is sent outside for a moment.

Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

Luca is travelling to his first big trade fair in Frankfurt. The journey takes much longer than expected, and the people in his compartment suddenly start speaking Polish.

Präteritum (simple past) · Konjunktiv II (would, could) · 6 new words

At two in the morning, nurse Miriam finds an old patient who can't sleep. He tells her about storms, ports and a ship's cook, and the night flies by.

Präteritum (simple past) · Relativsatz (relative clause) · 8 new words

The evening before the premiere, the lead actor of a small amateur theatre is in bed with a fever, and there is no understudy. Then a quiet voice speaks up from under the stage.

Präteritum (simple past) · Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 7 new words

Every night on her drive home, the nurse Mira listens to a small radio station. Then the presenter with the deep voice starts talking about things only she can know.

Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

Anna has wanted to go to the theatre for a long time. When she finally goes, the evening brings more than just a good play.

Präteritum (simple past) · 8 new words

An ordinary Monday at the office – until Anna notices that her boss has not turned up.

Präteritum (simple past) · 8 new words

Ayla wants to travel through Europe by train, and her seventy-five-year-old grandmother simply comes along. Soon it is no longer clear who is looking after whom.

Präteritum (simple past) · Relativsatz (relative clause) · 7 new words

Four strangers share a compartment on the night train from Hamburg to Vienna, and none of them can sleep. So they start telling each other why they are travelling – all except the silent man in the grey suit.

Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

Lukas and Ana set off on a sunny hike to a mountain inn famous for its apple strudel. Then, halfway up, the fog rolls in.

Präteritum (simple past) · Konjunktiv II (would, could) · 7 new words

At the back of a kitchen cupboard, Jelena finds her late grandmother's recipe book, full of notes, photos and memories. She decides to bake the family's favourite dish.

Präteritum (simple past) · Relativsatz (relative clause) · 8 new words

After twenty years without contact, Katrin gets a message from her old school friend Julia. Over coffee, the two are polite strangers at first, until a waiter trips over a chair.

Präteritum (simple past) · 7 new words

Two siblings are only two hundred metres below the summit they have dreamed of for years, when a dark wall of cloud appears in the west.

Präteritum (simple past) · Genitiv (genitive case) · 7 new words