B1-36 · Report earlier events with the Plusquamperfekt
Traffic and accidents
Describe what had happened before an accident and write a short damage report for an insurance company.
About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions
01
What had happened before?
Accident reports tell the main events in the Präteritum. For something that happened even earlier, they use the Plusquamperfekt: hatte or war plus a participle. Jonas saw an accident at a crossroads and tells the police what happened.
Als die Polizei kam, hatte der Fahrer schon den Krankenwagen gerufen.
When the police arrived, the driver had already called an ambulance.
Der Radfahrer war bei Rot über die Ampel gefahren.
The cyclist had ridden through a red light.
Kurz vorher hatte es stark geregnet.
Shortly before, it had rained heavily.
Ein anderes Auto war zu schnell um die Kurve gefahren.
Another car had gone round the bend too fast.
Die Ampel is the traffic lights, bei Rot means on red and die Kurve is a bend. Der Krankenwagen is an ambulance.
02
hatte or war?
Choose the helper verb as in the Perfekt. Verbs of movement and change, like fahren and laufen, and a few others such as passieren take war. Most other verbs take hatte. Reports often link the two times with nachdem, als or weil.
| Tense | with haben | with sein |
|---|---|---|
| present perfect | er hat gebremst | er ist gefahren |
| past perfect | er hatte gebremst | er war gefahren |
Nachdem der Lastwagen plötzlich gebremst hatte, konnte ich nicht mehr anhalten.
After the lorry had suddenly braked, I could not stop in time.
Nachdem die Fußgängerin auf die Straße gelaufen war, bremste der Bus sofort.
After the pedestrian had run onto the road, the bus braked immediately.
Der Unfall passierte, weil der Fahrer nicht aufgepasst hatte.
The accident happened because the driver had not paid attention.
Als ich an der Kreuzung ankam, war der Unfall schon passiert.
When I arrived at the crossroads, the accident had already happened.
After nachdem, use the Plusquamperfekt when the main clause is in the past: Nachdem er gebremst hatte, hielt er an. Der Lastwagen is a lorry; bremsen means to brake.
03
A report for the insurance
After damage to a car, you send the insurance company a short report. Eva describes what had happened while she was shopping. Each sentence tells an event that came before she discovered the damage.
Ich hatte mein Auto vor dem Supermarkt geparkt.
I had parked my car outside the supermarket.
Als ich zurückkam, hatte jemand meine Tür beschädigt.
When I came back, someone had damaged my door.
Der Fahrer war einfach weggefahren.
The driver had simply driven away.
Zum Glück hatte eine Zeugin das Kennzeichen notiert.
Luckily, a witness had written down the number plate.
Die Versicherung is the insurance company, der Schaden the damage and das Kennzeichen the number plate. Die Zeugin is a female witness. Verbs with be-, like beschädigen, have no ge- in the participle.
Ready to try it?
Check what you remember with 12 short questions.
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