Breakdown of Als die Panne behoben war, fuhren wir über die Autobahn, doch eine neue Baustelle verzögerte unsere Fahrt.
sein
to be
neu
new
wir
we
fahren
to drive
unsere
our
über
over
doch
but
als
when
verzögern
to delay
die Autobahn
the highway
die Panne
the breakdown
beheben
to fix
die Baustelle
the construction site
die Fahrt
the journey
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Questions & Answers about Als die Panne behoben war, fuhren wir über die Autobahn, doch eine neue Baustelle verzögerte unsere Fahrt.
What does als mean here, and how does it differ from wenn?
Here als is a temporal conjunction meaning “when” or “once” for a single event in the past (“Once the breakdown was fixed…”). You use als for one‐time past events. In contrast, wenn is used for repeated actions, general conditions, or future events (“Whenever it rains…”).
Why is the verb war at the end of the clause Als die Panne behoben war?
Because als is a subordinating conjunction in German. In subordinate clauses, the finite verb is placed at the very end.
What type of passive is behoben war, and why isn’t it wurde behoben?
This is the Zustandspassiv (resultative passive), formed with sein + past participle. It describes a resulting state (“the breakdown was fixed”). If you want to emphasize the action or process of fixing, you’d use the Vorgangspassiv with wurde behoben.
Why is über die Autobahn in the accusative case?
The preposition über can govern dative (for location: “above/on”) or accusative (for direction: “across”). Here it indicates movement across the motorway, so it takes the accusative: die Autobahn.
Why is fuhren wir in the Präteritum instead of sind gefahren (Perfekt)?
In written narrative German (especially in stories or reports), the simple past (Präteritum) is more common. In everyday spoken German, you’d often hear wir sind über die Autobahn gefahren.
What role does doch play here? How is it different from aber?
doch is a coordinating conjunction meaning “but” or “however,” linking two main clauses and must be preceded by a comma. Compared to aber, doch often carries a slightly stronger contrast or element of surprise.
What case is unsere Fahrt, and how can you tell?
unsere Fahrt is in the accusative case because it’s the direct object of verzögerte. Fahrt is feminine singular, so the possessive pronoun unsere gets the -e ending in the accusative singular.