B1-37 · Tell travel stories in the Präteritum
Travel experiences
Narrate adventures and mishaps on a trip with regular, irregular and separable verbs in the Präteritum.
About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions
01
Telling a travel story
Written stories, blogs and travel diaries usually use the Präteritum. Regular verbs add -te to the stem: reisen becomes sie reiste. Read the start of Sofia's travel blog about a rainy trip to Scotland.
Letzten Sommer reiste Sofia mit dem Rucksack durch Schottland.
Last summer, Sofia travelled through Scotland with a backpack.
Am ersten Tag regnete es ununterbrochen.
On the first day, it rained non-stop.
Abends suchte sie lange eine Unterkunft.
In the evening, she spent a long time looking for accommodation.
Am Ende übernachtete sie in einer kleinen Jugendherberge.
In the end, she stayed the night in a small youth hostel.
If the stem ends in -t or -d, or in n or m after another consonant other than l or r, add -ete: übernachten, sie übernachtete; regnen, es regnete. Lernen is regular: sie lernte. Die Unterkunft is accommodation and die Jugendherberge a youth hostel.
02
Irregular verbs and mishaps
Many common verbs have an irregular Präteritum with a new stem and no -te. Ich and er/sie/es have no ending: ich fand, er fand. Tim's train journey did not go to plan.
| Meaning | Infinitive | ich / er / sie | wir / sie |
|---|---|---|---|
| to lose | verlieren | verlor | verloren |
| to get off | aussteigen | stieg aus | stiegen aus |
| to forget | vergessen | vergaß | vergaßen |
| to find | finden | fand | fanden |
| to stay | bleiben | blieb | blieben |
| to help | helfen | half | halfen |
Im Zug verlor Tim seinen Reisepass.
On the train, Tim lost his passport.
Er stieg in Hamburg aus und ging sofort zur Polizei.
He got off in Hamburg and went straight to the police.
Leider vergaß er auch sein Ladekabel im Zug.
Unfortunately, he also forgot his charging cable on the train.
Zwei Tage später fand ein Schaffner den Pass.
Two days later, a ticket inspector found the passport.
Learn the past stem with the infinitive, as in the table. Der Reisepass is a passport, das Ladekabel a charging cable and der Schaffner a ticket inspector.
03
We and they, and separable verbs
With wir and sie (they), add -en to an irregular stem: wir kamen, sie blieben. Separable verbs split as in the present tense, so the prefix goes to the end of the clause. Nora tells how her holiday in Naples began.
Wir kamen erst um Mitternacht in Neapel an.
We did not arrive in Naples until midnight.
Unsere Koffer blieben in Frankfurt.
Our suitcases stayed in Frankfurt.
Die Leute am Flughafen halfen uns sehr freundlich.
The people at the airport helped us in a very friendly way.
Am nächsten Morgen standen wir früh auf und fuhren ans Meer.
The next morning, we got up early and went to the seaside.
Ankommen becomes wir kamen … an and aufstehen becomes wir standen … auf. Der Koffer is a suitcase; the plural is die Koffer.
Ready to try it?
Check what you remember with 12 short questions.
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