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From Diebstahl in der Pflege: "Alles war auf einmal weg", tagesschau.de, 22 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
The 86-year-old remembers exactly the moment when, two years ago, she looked at an almost empty jewellery case in the bedroom.
Word for word: The 86-year-old remembers herself exactly at the moment, as she two years ago in-the bedroom onto an almost empty jewellery-case looked.
The sentence reports that an elderly woman vividly recalls discovering that her jewellery case was almost empty — typically found in a news story about a burglary or theft.
A main clause with the reflexive verb 'sich erinnern' (accusative reflexive + prepositional object with 'an' + accusative). The noun phrase 'die 86-Jährige' is a nominalised adjective with weak declension after the definite article. A relative-like temporal clause introduced by 'als' refers to a single past point; within it, 'vor zwei Jahren' is a time adverbial, 'im Schlafzimmer' a place adverbial, and the finite verb 'blickt' stands at the end of the subordinate clause. The present tense 'blickt' here is historic/narrative present within the als-clause.
Rules at work(8)
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erinnert sich
'sich erinnern' is inherently reflexive; the accusative reflexive pronoun 'sich' is required.
A reflexive verb takes a pronoun pointing back at the subject. The pronoun is usually accusative, but it turns dative as soon as the verb has another direct object, which is why it is ich wasche mich but ich wasche mir die Hände.
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an den Moment
'sich erinnern' fixes the preposition 'an' with accusative for its complement.
Many verbs are tied to one preposition and one case, and the pairing rarely matches the English one. Warten auf takes the accusative, denken an takes the accusative, teilnehmen an takes the dative.
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als sie ... Schmuckkoffer blickt
After the subordinating conjunction 'als' the finite verb moves to the end of the clause.
In a subordinate clause the finite verb stands last. Where the clause also holds a participle or an infinitive, the finite verb goes after them, so the order at the end is participle then auxiliary.
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als sie vor zwei Jahren ... blickt
'als' is used because the clause refers to one specific moment in the past.
Three words where English has when. Als is a single completed occasion in the past, wenn is a repeated occasion or a condition, and wann is only ever a question.
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Die 86-Jährige
The adjective 'jährig' is nominalised to mean 'the 86-year-old woman' and takes adjective endings.
An adjective can be capitalised and used as a noun, and it goes on taking adjective endings: der Alte, ein Alter, etwas Neues.
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einen fast leeren Schmuckkoffer
After the indefinite article 'einen' the adjective takes the mixed-declension ending -en in accusative masculine.
After ein, kein and a possessive, the adjective takes strong endings exactly where the article shows nothing, which is the masculine nominative and the neuter nominative and accusative, and weak endings everywhere else.
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vor zwei Jahren im Schlafzimmer
Time ('vor zwei Jahren') precedes place ('im Schlafzimmer'), following the usual order of adverbials.
When several adverbial phrases stand in the middle field, the usual order is time, then manner, then place. This is the opposite of the common English order and it is why Ich fahre morgen mit dem Zug nach Berlin sounds right.
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Schmuckkoffer
Two nouns are joined into one compound whose gender comes from the final element.
German builds long nouns by joining shorter ones. The last part carries the gender and the plural, and everything before it modifies what follows, so a compound is read from the right.
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Words(20)
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- die Jährige
person of ... years of age
nounB1pl. die 86-Jährigengen. der 86-Jährigenadjectival declension
Nominalized adjective, declined like an adjective; combined with numerals as in der 40-Jährige.
- erinnern
to commemorate, to remind
verbA2erinnern, erinnerte, hat erinnertmit habenweakan + accusative
Reflexive sich erinnern an = to remember; non-reflexive erinnern an = to commemorate or remind of.
- sich
himself/herself/themselves, itself
pronounA2reflexive
Always refers back to the subject; here it is fixed to the verb 'sich mehren'.
- genau
exactly, precisely
adverbA2modal
- an
on, at, by
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Dative for points in time and location (am Montag), accusative for direction.
- der Moment
moment, instant
nounA2pl. Momentegen. Momentsstrong declension
- als
as, than, when (past)
conjunctionA2correlative
here 'als Land' means 'as a country'; also used for comparisons and after 'als' in past-time clauses
- sie
she, they, it (referring to feminine nouns)
pronounA1personal
Here accusative singular feminine, referring back to 'die Publikumsveranstaltung'.
- vor
before, in front of, ago
prepositionA1governs dative
With clock time ('vor 7 Uhr') it means 'before' and takes no visible case change.
- zwei
two
numeralA1
- das Jahr
year
nounA1pl. Jahregen. Jahresstrong declension
- in
in, into
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Dative for location, accusative for direction.
- das Schlafzimmer
bedroom
nounA1pl. Schlafzimmergen. Schlafzimmersstrong declension
- auf
on, onto
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Location takes the dative, movement towards the accusative.
- ein
a, an, one
determinerA1indefinite
The form einer here is dative feminine singular, not the pronoun meaning 'one'.
- fast
almost, nearly
adverbA2degree
- leer
empty
adjectiveA2leerer, am leersten
- der Schmuckkoffer
jewellery case, jewellery box
nounC1pl. Schmuckkoffergen. Schmuckkoffersstrong declension
- blicken
to look, to gaze
verbB2blicken, blickte, hat geblicktmit habenweakauf + accusative