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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
By Peter Allgaier and Oliver Christa; BR: "My wedding ring or the pretty necklace — everything was suddenly gone," says Gisela Urban.
Word for word: From Peter Allgaier and Oliver Christa, BR "My wedding-ring or the beautiful chain, everything was at once away", says Gisela Urban.
A radio programme credit naming the authors and station (BR = Bayerischer Rundfunk), followed by an interviewee's remark that her jewellery disappeared all of a sudden.
A broadcast credit line ('Von ... und ...') followed by a quoted statement and the reporting clause 'sagt Gisela Urban'. The quote is a complete sentence: 'alles' is the subject, 'war' the finite verb of sein in the preterite, and 'weg' a separable-prefix adverb functioning as predicate complement. 'Mein' takes the strong ending - because there is no article before it.
Rules at work(5)
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alles war auf einmal weg
'War' is the preterite of sein, the usual written form for sein unlike perfect-tense habit verbs.
The simple past is the written narrative past. In speech it survives mainly in sein, haben and the modals, where hatte and war are far commoner than the perfect forms.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
alles war
The indefinite pronoun 'alles' is grammatically singular, so the verb is third-person singular 'war'.
The finite verb takes an ending that matches its subject in person and number. The endings for regular verbs in the present are e, st, t, en, t, en.
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Mein Ehering
'Mein' shows first-person singular possession and takes the strong ending because no article stands before it.
Mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer and Ihr take their stem from the owner and their ending from the thing owned, which is why seine Mutter and ihr Vater are the way they are.
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die schöne Kette
After the definite article 'die' the adjective takes the weak ending -e.
After a definite article the adjective ending is e in the five nominative and accusative singular slots and en everywhere else, because the article has already shown the case and gender.
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sagt Gisela Urban
In the reporting clause the finite verb 'sagt' occupies the second position even though the subject follows it.
In a German main clause the finite verb is always the second element. The first element can be the subject, but it can just as easily be a time expression, an object or a whole subordinate clause; whatever it is, it counts as one element and the verb follows it. This is why putting something other than the subject first pushes the subject after the verb.
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Words(19)
- von
from, of, by
prepositionA1governs dative
Used here to mark authorship, like 'by' in English credits.
- der Peter
Peter
nounA1pl. Petergen. Petersmixed declension
- der Allgaier
Allgaier (surname)
nounpl. Allgaiersgen. Allgaiersmixed declension
- und
and
conjunctionA1coordinating
- der Oliver
Oliver
nounA1pl. Oliversgen. Oliversmixed declension
- die Christa
Christa (given name)
nounpl. Christasgen. Christasinvariable declension
- BR
Bavarian Broadcasting (Bayerischer Rundfunk)
nounC1
- mein
my
determinerA1possessive
- der Ehering
wedding ring
nounB1pl. Eheringegen. Eheringesstrong declension
- oder
or
conjunctionA1coordinating
- die
the
determinerA1definite
- schön
beautiful, nice, lovely
adjectiveA1schöner, am schönsten
Very broad in meaning; in titles like 'Schöne Ferien' it can be ironic.
- die Kette
chain
nounA2pl. Kettengen. Kettemixed declension
- alles
everything, all
pronounA1indefinite
Grammatically singular despite its meaning: 'alles war', not 'alles waren'.
- sein
to be
verbA1sein, war, ist gewesenmit seinirregular
Copula here linking subject to predicate noun.
- weg
away, gone
adverbA1local
Also the separable prefix of verbs like weggehen; as here it can serve as the predicate of sein: 'es ist weg' = it is gone.
- sagen
to say, to tell
verbA1sagen, sagte, hat gesagtmit habenweak
- die Gisela
Gisela (given name)
nounpl. Giselasgen. Giselasinvariable declension
- die Urban
Urban (surname)
nounpl. Urbansgen. Urbansinvariable declension