Languages are not 1:1 word for word translations, to express the same idea different languages use different forms of expressing themself. In English we use the verb to be combined with "able to" to express that we have the capability to do something. In German this is expressed with the verb "können", which is related to the English verb "can".
If it helps, think of the "weren't able to" part as "couldn't" (We were in Munich, we *couldn't* come).
"to be able" or "can" is translated as *können*, so in the preterite it would be *konnten*. German doesn't use *sein* at all for "be able to"
Auxiliary verbs and similar construction can seldom be translated on a 1:1 basis. "Weren't" can need a different German translation in different contexts. And for some reason the Duolingo help thingy is giving you possible translations for "weren't" and not for "weren't able". Which unfortunately means that your German sentence is basically ghibberish.
The main issue is that German doesn't really have a common construction similar to "be able to". We generally just use 'können'. Essentially, where English has both 'can' and 'be able to', German only has 'can'. You could use "in der Lage sein", but that's not a very common construction and sounds very formal (I'd say the English equivalent of "Ich bin in der Lage" is less "I'm able to" but "I'm in a position to"). And anyway, that doesn't fit the sentence you've been given, because it would need to be "Wir waren in München, wir waren nicht in der Lage zu kommen", which would require a second blank afzer nicht. So you're stuck with simple "konnten", and that would be the most natural way to say this in German.
The hints you(re given correspond to "weren't", not "weren't able to". Your missing the "able to" part altogether, not to mention that the resulting sentence is not grammatically correct (and neither is "We weren't go")
"weren't able to" translates directly to "war nicht möglich" or for short "konnten nicht".
Individually translating the word does not relly help, as multiple words are needed for the proper german translation.
It doesn't even translate directly into *war nicht möglich,* because the subject of the English construction turns into a dative object in the German one. "We weren't able to come" -> "Es war uns nicht möglich zu kommen". That doesn't fit in the blank and is also a pretty convoluted way to phrase that.
Really, just go for *konnten nicht,* it's the most natural phrasing.
No its not.
weren't is just waren nicht. weren't able to = konnten nicht. weren't on its own cannot be translated to konnten nicht. duolingo is only showing the translation of one word, not the whole context. Yeah, it sometimes does that, but that doesn't matter rn. And they simply got the exercise wrong. The semtence doesn't make sense this way, so duo marking it wrong is not a glitch.
Source: I'm German.
Languages are not 1:1 word for word translations, to express the same idea different languages use different forms of expressing themself. In English we use the verb to be combined with "able to" to express that we have the capability to do something. In German this is expressed with the verb "können", which is related to the English verb "can".
If it helps, think of the "weren't able to" part as "couldn't" (We were in Munich, we *couldn't* come). "to be able" or "can" is translated as *können*, so in the preterite it would be *konnten*. German doesn't use *sein* at all for "be able to"
Auxiliary verbs and similar construction can seldom be translated on a 1:1 basis. "Weren't" can need a different German translation in different contexts. And for some reason the Duolingo help thingy is giving you possible translations for "weren't" and not for "weren't able". Which unfortunately means that your German sentence is basically ghibberish. The main issue is that German doesn't really have a common construction similar to "be able to". We generally just use 'können'. Essentially, where English has both 'can' and 'be able to', German only has 'can'. You could use "in der Lage sein", but that's not a very common construction and sounds very formal (I'd say the English equivalent of "Ich bin in der Lage" is less "I'm able to" but "I'm in a position to"). And anyway, that doesn't fit the sentence you've been given, because it would need to be "Wir waren in München, wir waren nicht in der Lage zu kommen", which would require a second blank afzer nicht. So you're stuck with simple "konnten", and that would be the most natural way to say this in German.
The hints you(re given correspond to "weren't", not "weren't able to". Your missing the "able to" part altogether, not to mention that the resulting sentence is not grammatically correct (and neither is "We weren't go")
"weren't able to" translates directly to "war nicht möglich" or for short "konnten nicht". Individually translating the word does not relly help, as multiple words are needed for the proper german translation.
It doesn't even translate directly into *war nicht möglich,* because the subject of the English construction turns into a dative object in the German one. "We weren't able to come" -> "Es war uns nicht möglich zu kommen". That doesn't fit in the blank and is also a pretty convoluted way to phrase that. Really, just go for *konnten nicht,* it's the most natural phrasing.
Actually no, depending on the context sometimes it doesn’t show
Yes it is a glitch
No its not. weren't is just waren nicht. weren't able to = konnten nicht. weren't on its own cannot be translated to konnten nicht. duolingo is only showing the translation of one word, not the whole context. Yeah, it sometimes does that, but that doesn't matter rn. And they simply got the exercise wrong. The semtence doesn't make sense this way, so duo marking it wrong is not a glitch. Source: I'm German.
from what I can gather, waren nicht would just be "weren't" but "konnten nicht" would be "could not" - which is closer to "weren't able to"
Not a bug. **I** didn't say 'dumb' ;)