Learn Hardcore German: Früher hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft, bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe. - Previously I had bought a single ticket every day before I discovered the monthly ticket.

In Früher hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft ..., why does Früher come first? Could I also say Ich hatte früher jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft ...?

German main clauses have the finite verb in 2nd position, but position 1 is flexible. You can put different elements in the first slot to highlight them.

Früher hatte ich ...
- Früher is in the first position.
- hatte is still in 2nd position (as required).
- This puts a bit more emphasis on the time frame “back then / in the past”.
Ich hatte früher jeden Tag ...
- Ich is in first position, hatte still 2nd.
- The meaning is basically the same, but the focus is slightly more on “I” as the subject, with früher more in the middle of the sentence.

Both versions are grammatically correct and natural. In practice, Früher hatte ich ... nicely sets the scene and is very common when you’re contrasting the past with the present, which matches the meaning of this sentence.

Why is jeden Tag in ... hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft placed there? Can I say ich hatte ein Einzelticket jeden Tag gekauft?

German has a preferred order for adverbials: Time – Manner – Place (often remembered as TMP). In your sentence:

jeden Tag = time
ein Einzelticket = direct object (what was bought)

So the “natural” order is:

ich hatte jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft

Saying:

ich hatte ein Einzelticket jeden Tag gekauft

is understandable but sounds awkward or marked. Native speakers would usually only move jeden Tag like that for special emphasis (for example in spoken German with a special intonation). For standard, neutral word order, keep jeden Tag before the object:

Früher hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft.

What exactly does Einzelticket mean here? Why not just ein Ticket?

Einzelticket is a compound noun:

Einzel- = single, individual
Ticket = ticket (loanword from English, neuter in German: das Ticket)

So ein Einzelticket is not just “a ticket” in general; it’s a specific type of ticket in public transport: a single ride ticket (valid for one trip). It corresponds to things like:

Einzelfahrschein or Einzelfahrkarte (more traditional / formal terms)
In English: “single ticket”, “one-way ticket”, “single fare”.

If you said just ein Ticket, context might still make it clear, but Einzelticket tells the reader you mean that specific tariff product (as opposed to a day pass, weekly ticket, etc.). That nuance matters here, because it’s being contrasted with die Monatskarte (monthly pass).

Why is it hatte ... gekauft instead of a single word like kaufte? What’s going on with the split verb?

Hatte gekauft is the Plusquamperfekt (past perfect) in German:

auxiliary verb in the past (hatte) in 2nd position
past participle (gekauft) at the end

This creates the so‑called “Satzklammer” (sentence bracket):

Früher hatte – [other stuff] – gekauft.

Structure:

hatte (finite verb, 2nd position)
gekauft (past participle, at the very end)

You could also say:

Früher kaufte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket ...

That uses the Präteritum (simple past: kaufte). It’s more typical in written / literary German. In everyday spoken German, people often prefer Perfekt and Plusquamperfekt with auxiliary + participle.

So:

kaufte = “bought” (simple past)
habe gekauft = “have bought / bought” (perfect)
hatte gekauft = “had bought” (past perfect)

Why does the first clause use hatte ... gekauft (past perfect) but the second clause has entdeckt habe (perfect)? Shouldn’t both be the same tense?

The two parts express different time levels in the past:

Früher hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft
→ This describes a habitual action in the past that was already in place and is seen as earlier in the past.
bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe
→ This describes one specific past event (the discovery of the monthly pass), which happened later than the period when you were buying single tickets every day.

German often uses:

Plusquamperfekt (past perfect) for the earlier past situation (hatte gekauft)
Perfekt (perfect) or Präteritum for the later past event (entdeckt habe / entdeckte)

So the contrast matches English:

I had bought a single ticket every day before I discovered the monthly pass.

You could also say in German:

Früher habe ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft, bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe.

This is very common in everyday speech: both actions are in the Perfekt, and the sequence is clear from bevor. The original version with hatte gekauft makes the temporal relationship extra explicit but is not strictly necessary.

Would bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt hatte be more “parallel” to hatte gekauft? Is that better or worse?

Grammatically, bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt hatte is correct Plusquamperfekt. But in this context it’s not idiomatic.

Plusquamperfekt usually refers to something that is already completed before another past time point.
With bevor (“before”), the subordinate clause usually describes the later event (the one that happens after the main clause event, from the main clause’s point of view) or simply sets up a sequence without needing a second past perfect.

In your sentence, the natural timeline is:

For a period, you were buying single tickets every day.
Then, at some point, you discovered the monthly pass.

So the discovery is later, not earlier. That’s why:

Früher hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft, bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe.

or, more commonly:

Früher habe ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft, bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe.

Using entdeckt hatte would wrongly suggest that discovering the monthly ticket was already completed before that earlier time frame, which clashes with the meaning of bevor here.

Why is it bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe and not something like vorher habe ich die Monatskarte entdeckt?

Bevor and vorher both relate to “before”, but they behave differently:

bevor is a subordinating conjunction:
- It introduces a subordinate clause and sends the conjugated verb to the end.
- Example: bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe
vorher is an adverb:
- It appears inside a main clause and does not change word order.
- Example: Vorher habe ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft.

In your sentence, the speaker wants to link the two actions in one complex sentence, so bevor is the natural choice:

... , bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe.

You could rephrase with vorher, but you’d typically split it into two sentences or reorder:

Ich habe die Monatskarte entdeckt. Vorher hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft.

Same meaning overall, but different structure. With bevor, everything stays in one sentence and the connection feels tighter.

Why is the word order bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe and not bevor ich die Monatskarte habe entdeckt?

Because bevor introduces a subordinate clause, and in subordinate clauses the conjugated verb goes to the very end.

Main clause word order (verb in 2nd position):
- Ich habe die Monatskarte entdeckt.
Subordinate clause after a subordinating conjunction like bevor:
- ..., bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe.

In a subordinate clause with Perfekt, the participle and the auxiliary both go to the end, with the participle before the auxiliary:

entdeckt habe, not habe entdeckt

So the pattern is:

[conjunction] [subject] [objects/adverbials] [participle] [auxiliary]

Example:

bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe
weil ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe
als ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe

Why is it die Monatskarte and what exactly does Monatskarte mean?

Monatskarte is another compound noun:

Monats- (from der Monat) = “monthly”
Karte = “card / ticket” (feminine: die Karte)

Because Karte is grammatically feminine, the compound noun Monatskarte is also feminine, so in the accusative singular you use:

die Monatskarte

Meaning-wise, Monatskarte is:

a monthly pass for public transport (valid for a whole month, usually for unlimited travel in a certain area).

You might also hear Monatsticket, which is similar, but Monatskarte is very standard, especially in many German-speaking transport systems.

Can I flip the clauses and say Bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe, hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft?

Yes. That’s perfectly grammatical and natural:

Bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe, hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft.

Points to notice:

When the subordinate clause comes first, it’s followed by a comma.
The main clause still keeps verb‑second word order:
- ... , hatte ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft.

So you have:

[Subordinate clause with verb at the end], [main clause with verb in 2nd position].

The meaning is the same; you just draw attention first to the time condition (“before I discovered the monthly pass”) and then state what was true before that.

Is this exactly how a native would say it, or is there a more typical version of the sentence?

The original is correct, but a very natural, everyday version a native might use is:

Früher habe ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft, bevor ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe.

Or, to stress the change even more:

Früher habe ich jeden Tag ein Einzelticket gekauft, bis ich die Monatskarte entdeckt habe.
(“... until I discovered the monthly pass.”)

In spoken German:

Perfekt (habe gekauft, habe entdeckt) is more common than Plusquamperfekt for general past narration, especially when bevor already makes the order clear.
Speakers might also say Monatsticket instead of Monatskarte, depending on the region and the transport company.

So your sentence is correct and understandable, but using habe gekauft instead of hatte gekauft would sound a bit more typical in everyday conversation.