Learn Hardcore German: In einer Hörübung achten wir auf jede Sprechpause und auf Wörter in Anführungszeichen. - In a listening exercise we pay attention to every speaking pause and to words in quotation marks.

in here means inside / during and takes the dative case (location, not movement).
Hörübung is feminine: die Hörübung.
Feminine article:
- Nominative: eine Hörübung
- Dative: einer Hörübung

Because in requires the dative in this context, you get in einer Hörübung, not in eine Hörübung.

Could you also say Bei einer Hörübung instead of In einer Hörübung? Is there a difference?

You could say Bei einer Hörübung achten wir …, and it would be correct.

Nuance:

In einer Hörübung – more “within the exercise itself”, during the specific task.
Bei einer Hörübung – more “when we are doing a listening exercise / on such occasions”.

So in sounds a bit more like you’re talking about what happens inside this particular exercise; bei is slightly more general (“on the occasion of a listening exercise”).

What is Hörübung exactly, and why is it one word?

Hörübung is a compound noun:

hören = to listen
die Übung = exercise

German normally writes such combinations as one word: Hörübung (“listening exercise”).
Its gender comes from the last part (Übung), so:

die Hörübung (feminine)
plural: die Hörübungen.

Also, all nouns in German are capitalised, so Hörübung must start with a capital H.

What does achten auf mean here, and how is it different from aufpassen or beachten?

In this sentence, achten auf means “to pay attention to / to notice deliberately.”

Structure:

achten auf + Akkusativ
→ auf jede Sprechpause, auf Wörter …

Comparison:

achten auf etwas – to pay attention to something in a focused, often analytical way.
aufpassen (auf etwas/jemanden) – to watch out, be careful, supervise.
etwas beachten – to take something into account, to observe (rules, hints, instructions).

So in a listening exercise, you achten auf specific features of the audio (pauses, quoted words), which fits the analytical meaning.

Why is it jede Sprechpause and not a plural like alle Sprechpausen?

jede Sprechpause literally means “every speech pause / every pause in speaking.”

German often uses jede + singular where English uses “every”:

jede Sprechpause = every single pause
alle Sprechpausen = all pauses

Both would be grammatically fine here, but:

jede Sprechpause emphasises each individual pause.
alle Sprechpausen looks at them more as a group.

The sentence chooses jede to stress that we focus on every single pause.

Why is it jede Sprechpause (with -e) and not jeder or jedes?

jede agrees with the gender and case of Sprechpause:

die Sprechpause – feminine noun.
After achten auf, auf takes the accusative.
Feminine accusative singular of jede is jede:
- Nominative: jede Sprechpause
- Accusative: jede Sprechpause

So:

jeder = masculine (e.g. jeder Mann)
jedes = neuter (e.g. jedes Kind)
jede = feminine (e.g. jede Sprechpause)

That’s why jede is used here.

What case are jede Sprechpause and Wörter in, and why?

Both jede Sprechpause and Wörter are in the accusative case.

Reason:

The verb is achten auf.
With this verb, auf always takes the accusative:
- auf jede Sprechpause
- auf Wörter …

So:

jede Sprechpause = feminine accusative singular.
Wörter = plural accusative of Wort.

Why is auf repeated in auf jede Sprechpause und auf Wörter in Anführungszeichen? Could you leave the second auf out?

You often can leave it out:

Full: … achten wir auf jede Sprechpause und auf Wörter in Anführungszeichen.
Also possible: … achten wir auf jede Sprechpause und Wörter in Anführungszeichen.

Repeating auf:

makes the structure clearer,
slightly emphasises that both elements depend on achten auf,
avoids any momentary confusion in a longer sentence.

So it’s not grammatically necessary, but it’s stylistically very natural and clear.

Why is it Wörter in Anführungszeichen? What does in Anführungszeichen do grammatically?

Wörter in Anführungszeichen means “words in quotation marks.”

Grammatically:

Wörter = head noun (accusative plural, object of achten auf).
in Anführungszeichen = prepositional phrase describing Wörter.

The preposition in here expresses location (“inside” the quotation marks), so it takes the dative:

in den Anführungszeichen (full form with article)
The article is omitted, so we just see in Anführungszeichen.

So the structure is:
auf [Wörter in Anführungszeichen] → “to pay attention to [words that are in quotation marks].”

What exactly are Anführungszeichen, and why are they plural?

Anführungszeichen = quotation marks / “quotes” in writing.

Literally: “little signs (Zeichen) used when introducing (anführen) something that is spoken.”
In German, Anführungszeichen is normally used only in the plural:
- die Anführungszeichen (plural only, like “scissors” in English).
When you need a singular, you usually say:
- das Anführungszeichen (one single quotation mark), but this is much rarer in everyday speech.

In this sentence, in Anführungszeichen means the words are written surrounded by quotation marks.

Why is it Wörter and not Worte? Aren’t both plurals of Wort?

Yes, Wörter and Worte are both plurals of Wort, but they’re used differently:

Wörter – separate, countable words:
- e.g. dictionary entries, written words, vocabulary items.
Worte – more like “words as a unit of speech / a saying / a statement”:
- e.g. letzte Worte (last words), weise Worte (wise words).

In a listening or writing context where you literally look at individual words in quotation marks, Wörter is correct, because you’re treating them as discrete lexical items.

Why is the word order In einer Hörübung achten wir … instead of Wir achten in einer Hörübung …?

German main clauses follow verb-second (V2) word order:

The finite verb (here: achten) must be the second element in the clause.

Both are correct:

Wir achten in einer Hörübung auf …
In einer Hörübung achten wir auf …

In the given sentence, the phrase In einer Hörübung is moved to the beginning to set the context (“In a listening exercise …”) and to emphasise the setting. Once that fills the first slot, the verb achten has to come next, so we get:

1st element: In einer Hörübung
2nd element (verb): achten
then the subject: wir

Why is wir used here? Does it mean a specific “we”, or a general “we/you”?

In teaching or instructional contexts, wir often has a general, inclusive meaning:

It can mean “we, you and I, and people in this situation in general.”
In English you might translate the idea more naturally as “In a listening exercise, you pay attention to …” or “we/one pays attention to …”.

Alternatives in German:

Man achtet in einer Hörübung auf … (using man for “one/people in general”).
But wir feels more inclusive and didactic, as if the teacher is including themselves in the activity.