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      Eine Nachricht: 'worum' and 'darum', genitive prepositions

      I can use the compounds ‘darum’ and ‘worum’ and understand prepositions with the genitive in the context of sharing messages.

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      Lesson 2 of 3
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      • Year 10
      • AQA

      Eine Nachricht: 'worum' and 'darum', genitive prepositions

      I can use the compounds ‘darum’ and ‘worum’ and understand prepositions with the genitive in the context of sharing messages.

      Lesson details

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. Some verbs are followed by the preposition 'um' and the accusative case.
      2. The prefix 'wor-' can be added to 'um' to make a question, usually meaning 'what about' or 'around what'?
      3. The prefix 'dar-' can be added to 'um' to mean 'about it' or 'around it'.
      4. 'Darum' can also be a conjunction meaning 'therefore' or 'that's why'.
      5. Prepositions 'trotz', 'statt', 'während' and 'wegen' are followed by the genitive. Masculine and neuter nouns gain 's'.

      Keywords

      • Preposition - a word that is used before a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun, connecting it to another word

      • Da-, dar- - prefix added to prepositions to avoid repetition of the noun

      • Wo-, wor- - prefix added to prepositions to form questions

      • Genitive - case used to indicate possession and after certain prepositions

      Common misconception

      'Darum' is a da-compound and its meaning is always directly related to the preposition 'um'.

      'Darum' can be used as a da-compund, meaning 'around it' or 'about it' but it is also a conjunction meaning 'therefore' or 'that's why'.

      Encourage students to read their dialogues from Task B1b aloud. All the grammar structures in this lesson, with the exception of 'gehen um', are Higher Tier only, so teachers of Foundation-only classes might choose to cover the vocabulary in this lesson in a different way.
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      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

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      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the German and English.

      Correct Answer:die Erdkunde,geography
      Correct Answer:die Biologie,biology
      Correct Answer:die Leichtathletik,athletics
      Correct Answer:die Bibliothek,library
      Correct Answer:der Eindruck,impression
      Correct Answer:der Bereich,area, region

      Q2.
      Match the infinitive to the preposition which can follow it.

      Correct Answer:antworten,auf
      Correct Answer:arbeiten,an
      Correct Answer:gehen,um
      Correct Answer:kämpfen,für
      Correct Answer:schützen,vor

      Q3.
      Match the German and English.

      Correct Answer:der, die, das größte,the biggest
      Correct Answer:der, die, das höchste,the highest
      Correct Answer:der, die, das meiste,the most
      Correct Answer:der, die, das nächste,the next, nearest
      Correct Answer:der, die, das beste,the best

      Q4.
      To form a wo-compond or a da-compound, add 'wo' or 'da' to ...

      a noun.
      a verb.
      Correct answer: a preposition.
      an adjective.
      a direct object pronoun.

      Q5.
      Which are the dative definite articles?

      der, die, das
      den, die, das
      Correct answer: dem, der, den
      einen, eine, ein
      einem, einer

      Q6.
      Which German preposition can mean 'around' or 'about'?

      Correct Answer: um

      Assessment exit quiz

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      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the German and English.

      Correct Answer:bitten um,to ask for, request
      Correct Answer:gehen um,to be about
      Correct Answer:sich sorgen um,to care, worry about
      Correct Answer:sich drehen um,to be about, revolve around

      Q2.
      'Mia hat heute Basketball gespielt. Darum geht es in ihrer E-Mail.' Is 'darum' a da-compound or a conjunction here?

      Correct answer: da-compound
      conjunction

      Q3.
      Match the sentence halves.

      Correct Answer:Worum geht,es in dem Buch?
      Correct Answer:Da steht ein Haus. Der Hund läuft,darum.
      Correct Answer:Er bittet um,Hilfe.
      Correct Answer:Es geht,darum, dass die Kosten steigen.
      Correct Answer:Er macht Hausaufgaben. Darum,spielt er noch nicht.

      Q4.
      Match the German and English.

      Correct Answer:trotz,in spite of
      Correct Answer:statt,instead of
      Correct Answer:während,during
      Correct Answer:wegen,because of

      Q5.
      Which of these definite articles are all in the genitive case?

      dem, der, dem, den
      der, die, das, die
      den, die, das, die
      Correct answer: des, der, des, der

      Q6.
      Translate the following into German: 'during the film'.

      Correct Answer: während des Films

      Lesson appears in

      UnitGerman / Communication and the world around us: Technologie

      AQAGerman

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      EdexcelGerman

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