Learn Hardcore German: Früher habe ich den Speicherort oft vergessen, jetzt notiere ich ihn neben der Tastenkombination im Heft. - Earlier I often forgot the storage location; now I note it next to the keyboard shortcut in my notebook.

Both are correct. Starting with Früher simply emphasizes the contrast in time (“In the past it was like this, now it’s different”), which fits nicely with jetzt (“now”) in the second clause.

Is there a difference in meaning between Früher habe ich … vergessen and Ich habe früher … vergessen?

The basic meaning is the same, but the focus shifts slightly:

Früher habe ich den Speicherort oft vergessen.
Focuses strongly on “in the past / back then” as a whole period, often with an implied contrast to now.
Ich habe früher den Speicherort oft vergessen.
Feels a bit more neutral; the focus is more on “I” and the action, with früher just adding a time frame.

In practice, both are fine, but the original sentence uses Früher … jetzt … as a neat before–now contrast.

Why is it den Speicherort and not der Speicherort?

Speicherort is:

masculine: der Speicherort (dictionary form)
singular

In the sentence it is the direct object of vergessen (to forget), so it must be accusative:

Nominative (subject): der Speicherort
Accusative (direct object): den Speicherort

So:

Der Speicherort ist wichtig. – The storage location is important. (subject → nominative)
Ich vergesse den Speicherort. – I forget the storage location. (direct object → accusative)

Hence den Speicherort is correct here.

Why is it habe … vergessen and not a simple past form like vergaß?

German has two common past tenses:

Perfekt (spoken past): habe vergessen
Präteritum (simple past): vergaß

In spoken German, especially in the standard variety, people usually use Perfekt for most verbs in the past:

Früher habe ich den Speicherort oft vergessen. (very natural in conversation)

The Präteritum form vergaß is correct but sounds:

more formal, literary, or
more typical of written style:
Früher vergaß ich den Speicherort oft. (would fit in a written story or book)

So the sentence chooses habe … vergessen because it feels natural and conversational.

Why is the pronoun ihn used, and not es or er?

In German, pronouns agree in gender and case with the noun they replace, not with English “it”.

Speicherort is masculine singular: der Speicherort.
In the second clause, we are referring back to den Speicherort.
It is again the direct object of notiere (I note it down), so we need the accusative pronoun, masculine singular: ihn.

Pronoun forms:

masculine accusative: ihn
neuter accusative: es
feminine accusative: sie

So:

Ich notiere den Speicherort. → Ich notiere ihn.
(I write down the storage location. → I write it down.)

Why is it neben der Tastenkombination and not neben die Tastenkombination?

The preposition neben (beside/next to) is a two-way preposition (Wechselpräposition). It can take:

Dative → when expressing location (where something is)
Accusative → when expressing movement towards a place (where something is going)

Here, the meaning is location:
You are noting something next to the key combination (it’s just sitting there beside it on the page).

So we need the dative:

Feminine noun: die Tastenkombination
Dative singular: der Tastenkombination

Hence:

neben der Tastenkombination = next to the key combination (fixed location)

If it were movement (e.g. “I move it next to the shortcut”), you’d use neben die Tastenkombination, but that’s not the case here.

What exactly is im Heft, and how is it formed?

im Heft is a contraction of:

in + dem Heft → im Heft

Grammar:

Heft (notebook/exercise book) is neuter: das Heft
Dative singular: dem Heft
Preposition in (another two‑way preposition):
- Dative → location (where?): in dem Heft (in the notebook)
- Accusative → movement (into where?): in das Heft (into the notebook, usually written as ins Heft)

Here, we are talking about where we note it down (on/in the pages of the notebook), so it’s location → dative:

in dem Heft → im Heft = in the notebook

Why is there a comma before jetzt, and why is there no word like und or aber?

The sentence actually contains two main clauses:

Früher habe ich den Speicherort oft vergessen,
jetzt notiere ich ihn neben der Tastenkombination im Heft.

In German, you can:

Join two main clauses with a comma, especially when the second one starts with an adverb like jetzt, dann, später, etc.
Optionally add a conjunction such as:
- aber (but)
- und (and)

For example, you could also say:

Früher habe ich den Speicherort oft vergessen, aber jetzt notiere ich ihn …
Früher habe ich den Speicherort oft vergessen, und jetzt notiere ich ihn …

Leaving out aber or und is still grammatical and quite natural; the contrast is already clear from Früher vs jetzt.

Why is oft placed between den Speicherort and vergessen? Can it go somewhere else?

Yes, oft (often) is flexible in position, but the given placement is very natural.

Original:

Früher habe ich den Speicherort oft vergessen.

Other common options:

Früher habe ich oft den Speicherort vergessen.
Ich habe früher den Speicherort oft vergessen.
Ich habe den Speicherort früher oft vergessen. (slightly different nuance)

General tendencies:

Time – Manner – Place is a helpful rule for adverb order, but frequency words like oft can be placed:
- after the subject,
- after the object,
- or before the participle.

The original order den Speicherort oft vergessen sounds very natural and keeps den Speicherort and vergessen close together while still clearly marking the frequency with oft.

What does Speicherort mean exactly, and is it used only for computers?

Speicherort literally means “storage location” or “place where something is stored”.

In modern language, it’s very commonly technical, especially in IT contexts:

file location / folder
path where a document is saved
directory on a computer, cloud location, etc.

Near synonyms (depending on context):

Ordner – folder (file system, or physical folder)
Ablageort – place where something is put away (more general)
Speicherplatz – storage space (emphasis on capacity, e.g. disk space)
Dateipfad – file path (more technical/precise than Speicherort)

In this sentence, Speicherort most naturally refers to where a file or document is saved on the computer.

What exactly is a Heft, and how is it different from Buch or Notizbuch?

Heft usually means a thin booklet or exercise book, often:

a school exercise book
a simple stapled or glued booklet with lined or squared pages

Differences:

das Heft
- cheap, thin, often for school exercises or casual notes
das Notizbuch
- a notebook, often nicer/sturdier, used for notes, journaling, etc.
das Buch
- a book in general (novel, textbook, etc.), not typically used to mean “notebook” on its own

In this sentence, im Heft suggests the person has some sort of notebook or exercise book where they write down things like shortcuts and storage locations.