Der Rattenfänger: understanding a Grimm brothers' fairy tale, imperfect tense
I can understand a Grimms brothers' fairy tale and respond to it using perfect and present tenses.
- Year 9
Der Rattenfänger: understanding a Grimm brothers' fairy tale, imperfect tense
I can understand a Grimms brothers' fairy tale and respond to it using perfect and present tenses.
Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Use the imperfect tense in German to narrate past events, mainly in writing.
- Singular weak imperfect verbs add -te to the stem for ‘ich’ and ‘er, sie, es’ and an additional -st for the ‘du’ form.
- Strong verbs have an irregular stem including a vowel change, and don’t add -te; ‘du’ forms add -st to the stem.
- Oral retelling of fairy tales can be done in the perfect tense; simpler versions can be written in the present tense.
Keywords
Imperfect - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing; e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'
Weak verb (imperfect) - forms the imperfect by adding -te to the stem ('ich', 'er', 'sie', 'es') and -test ('du')
Strong verb (imperfect) - forms the imperfect by changing the stem vowel, without the -te ending ('ich', 'er', 'sie', 'es'), but with -st ending ('du')
Common misconception
The only versions of Grimm brothers' fairy tales that exist are written in the imperfect tense.
There are many versions of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales. Many are written in the imperfect tense but there are also simpler, modern adaptations written in the present or perfect tenses, especially in children's books.
Equipment
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Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word means 'however, but'?
Q2.Match the German and English.
Q3.Match the German and English.
Q4.Match the German and English.
