Learn German A2: easy stories about everyday life

Max's back hurts, so his doctor sends him to yoga. The exercises are harder than he thought – but one of them suits him perfectly.

Dativ (dative case) · Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 6 new words

Milica's flight from Munich to Belgrade is four hours late, and her mother is already cooking. Then she hears a familiar voice at the next table.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 6 new words

Nina and her brother Felix cycle around Lake Constance through three countries. In Switzerland, a tyre goes flat – and nobody has the tools.

Dativ (dative case) · 6 new words

Ewa is planning a secret party for her father's eightieth birthday. Everything is going to plan – until a key turns in the door far too early.

Dativ (dative case) · Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 7 new words

Dad wants to cook sarma, his favourite dish from childhood, for his German colleagues. Soon the whole kitchen is in chaos.

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · Dativ (dative case) · 7 new words

Rafael from Brazil and Olena from Ukraine sit next to each other in a German course – and always make exactly the same mistakes.

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 6 new words

Sandra has an important video call with her strict boss. On top she wears a nice blouse, underneath her pyjama bottoms – what could go wrong?

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 7 new words

Jakub spends a night in a youth hostel room with five strangers. The light goes out at ten – and then the snoring begins.

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 6 new words

Ana spends a weekend with her friend Klara in Vienna: a famous cathedral, cake in an old coffee house and a waiter who never smiles.

Dativ (dative case) · 6 new words

The grandchildren give Grandma Hilde a tablet for video calls. Nobody believes it will work – and the first call is a little chaotic.

Perfekt (present perfect) · 7 new words

One Sunday the power goes out in Mrs Weber's building: no coffee, no TV, almost no phone battery. By evening, the stairwell is the only place with light.

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 7 new words

Ivana goes to see her first German film without subtitles. She doesn't understand everything – but she has a clever trick.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Dativ (dative case) · 6 new words

Zeynep only went out for bread rolls – and came back to a flooded bathroom. Then the grumpy neighbour from downstairs rings the bell.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 6 new words

Mr Wolf gets a smartwatch for his sixtieth birthday. He doesn't like it at first – it keeps telling him what to do.

Dativ (dative case) · Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 7 new words

Every month, Klara gets a postcard from a different city, but nobody ever signs it. Who is writing to her from all over the world?

Perfekt (present perfect) · Dativ (dative case) · 7 new words

Jonas goes with his girlfriend to her cousin's wedding in Serbia. He only knows two words of Serbian, but they get him surprisingly far.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Dativ (dative case) · 7 new words

Tim and his sister Anna share a flat, a TV and one remote control – and they fight over it every evening. Then one day the remote is gone.

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 6 new words

Nina is invited to her colleague's birthday party on the fourth floor. She has a wonderful evening – there's just one small problem.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 6 new words

Lena comes home tired on a Friday evening, but her key is gone. Where could she have lost it?

Perfekt (present perfect) · 6 new words

David flies to Hamburg for a language course, but his suitcase doesn't. Luckily his host, Mr Brandt, has a big wardrobe – full of very colourful shirts.

Perfekt (present perfect) · 7 new words

Tom goes shopping with a long list but forgets something important. How will he solve the problem?

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 8 new words

Jonas moves into a fourth-floor flat with the help of two friends. He didn't write anything on the boxes – what could go wrong?

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · Perfekt (present perfect) · 6 new words

Dragana and Yusuf love their new robot vacuum – until their socks start to disappear. Yusuf has a suspect, and a plan to catch it.

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 7 new words

Petra is fifty-two and runs her very first city race. After two minutes, she can only see the other runners' backs.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 6 new words

The new boss is only twenty-eight and changes things from day one. The whole office is nervous – until his first Friday.

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · Dativ (dative case) · 7 new words

Zeynep has just moved in and bakes an apple cake to meet her new neighbours. They eat every crumb – but they are strangely quiet.

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · Perfekt (present perfect) · 7 new words

Every morning there is a letter in Eva's garden – and it is always for someone else. The postman swears he has never lost one. So who is delivering them?

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · Perfekt (present perfect) · 7 new words

Jakub only wants his hair a little shorter. He falls asleep in the chair – and wakes up with a haircut he would rather hide under a hat.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 7 new words

After the Saturday market, a brown dog follows Lukas all through town. Lukas is sure he has found a new best friend.

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 6 new words

It's Jonas's first day at a new job, and he is very nervous. In the office kitchen he meets a woman who has a problem with the coffee machine.

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 7 new words

Giulia and Marko have never been camping. Their first tent takes two hours to put up – and then the night rain begins.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 7 new words

Selin has her very first job interview, at a small bakery, and she has no experience at all. Then the owner asks a difficult question: can she get up at four?

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · Modalverben (modal verbs) · 7 new words

Daniel plays tennis with his girlfriend's father for the first time. The man is almost seventy, so Daniel has a kind plan: he will let him win.

Dativ (dative case) · Perfekt (present perfect) · 7 new words

Zeynep wanted to be a journalist, but at the local paper she mostly makes coffee. Then a colleague gets sick, and she gets a small, strange assignment.

Perfekt (present perfect) · 6 new words

Lisa has planned the perfect picnic down to the last detail. But at the lake, the friends discover that a few things are missing.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · 7 new words

Mark wants to buy a new smartphone and is looking for the best deal. Then his old phone rings.

Trennbare Verben (separable verbs) · 8 new words

Every night something scratches and rattles in the basement. Jana and her neighbours have their theories – and one night they go down to find out.

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · Perfekt (present perfect) · 7 new words

Ahmed goes to the Oktoberfest for the first time – in borrowed Lederhosen that are much too small for him.

Perfekt (present perfect) · Dativ (dative case) · 6 new words

After six weeks of messages, Luka and Amira finally meet in a café. Both are nervous, and both have a small secret about their photos.

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · Perfekt (present perfect) · 7 new words

Sofia visits a German Christmas market for the first time. It is freezing cold – and she has forgotten her gloves.

Nebensatz (subordinate clause) · Dativ (dative case) · 6 new words