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New
Identifying things: ‘ist’, ‘sein’ and learning vocabulary
I can identify things using ‘was’, ‘ist’ and correct noun gender and use different strategies for learning vocabulary.
Lesson 4 of 9
New
New
- Year 7
Identifying things: ‘ist’, ‘sein’ and learning vocabulary
I can identify things using ‘was’, ‘ist’ and correct noun gender and use different strategies for learning vocabulary.
Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- 'Sein' means 'to be, being' and 'ist' means 'is'.
- When learning a noun, learn its gender and the correct word for 'the'.
- Regular revisiting helps you to learn your vocabulary.
- Learners can build their own repertoire (treasure trove) of vocabulary that is important to them.
Keywords
Sein - to be, being
Ist - form of 'sein', meaning 'is'
Vocabulary - collection of words in a language
Gender - way to categorise all nouns as either feminine, masculine or neuter
Common misconception
Learning the gender of nouns is not important.
It is important to learn the gender of nouns so that you can use them accurately in sentences.
Acknowledge that there are other possible answers for Task A, 'Was ist die Ausnahme?'. Any answer that can be justified and makes sense is acceptable.
Teacher tip
Equipment
Licence
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
6 Questions
Q1.True or false? German nouns always have a grammatical gender.
True or false? German nouns always have a grammatical gender.
Q2.Match these German nouns to their English meanings.
Match these German nouns to their English meanings.
Q3.Which word best fits in the gap in the following sentence? 'Mia __________ hallo.'
Which word best fits in the gap in the following sentence? 'Mia __________ hallo.'
sagen
ist
was
Q4.Is 'sagen' the long or short form of the verb?
Is 'sagen' the long or short form of the verb?
Q5.What type of words are 'was' and 'wo'?
What type of words are 'was' and 'wo'?
Q6.When do long vowel sounds occur in German?
When do long vowel sounds occur in German?
when followed by more than one consonant
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.True or false? 'Sein' and 'to' be' are irregular verbs?
True or false? 'Sein' and 'to' be' are irregular verbs?
Q2.What does 'Wortschatz' mean?
What does 'Wortschatz' mean?
Q3.Put these vocabulary learning steps in the correct order, from 1-6.
Put these vocabulary learning steps in the correct order, from 1-6.
Q4.Match the German words below to their English meaning.
Match the German words below to their English meaning.
Q5.Match each gender to the correct example word.
Match each gender to the correct example word.
Q6.Complete the following sentence: 'Was __________ das?'.
Complete the following sentence: 'Was __________ das?'.
sein
sagt
