Reading · C1 · Text 37
Tauben
Früher brachte man die Tauben weg von ihrem Zuhause.
In the past, people took pigeons away from their homes.
Dann band man ihnen eine Nachricht an ein Bein.
Then they tied a message to one of their legs.
Die Taube flog dann mit der Nachricht nach Hause.
The pigeon then flew home with the message.
10 words above C1
Grammar in this text
Simple past tense (Präteritum) of irregular verbs
Früher brachte man die Tauben weg von ihrem Zuhause.
The text uses the simple past (Präteritum) to narrate past events. The verbs 'brachte', 'band', and 'flog' are irregular past forms. This tense is common in written narratives.
Separable verb 'wegbringen'
Früher brachte man die Tauben weg von ihrem Zuhause.
The verb 'wegbringen' (to take away) is separable. In the simple past, the prefix 'weg' is separated and placed at the end of the sentence. This is typical for separable verbs in main clauses.
Prepositional phrase with 'an' + dative for location
Dann band man ihnen eine Nachricht an ein Bein.
The preposition 'an' is used here with the dative case ('einem Bein' would be dative, but the text has 'ein Bein' which is accusative because it indicates direction? Actually, in the text it is 'an ein Bein' – accusative because it indicates movement towards the leg. However, the pattern is that 'an' can take dative (location) or accusative (direction). Here it is accusative because the action of tying is directed to the leg.
Subordinate clause with 'dass' (implied)
Die Taube flog dann mit der Nachricht nach Hause.
Although not explicitly present, the sentence structure implies a sequence of events. The main clause has the verb in second position, and the subject follows. The pattern here is the simple main clause word order: subject + verb + other elements. This is a basic structure for C1 learners to recognize.
Keep going
Text from Tauben — Klexikon, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.
Translation, glossary and grammar notes are machine-generated and inherit the same licence.