Matthias Maurer: yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses
Learning outcomes
I can form yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses to ask questions about famous German speakers.
I can recognise, write and pronounce [-er] and [-r-] with male and female people nouns.
- Year 10
- AQA
Matthias Maurer: yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses
Learning outcomes
I can form yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses to ask questions about famous German speakers.
I can recognise, write and pronounce [-er] and [-r-] with male and female people nouns.
Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- [er] at the end of a word is unstressed and sounds like the English ‘uh’.
- The [r] in female people nouns is consonantal and is rolled at the back of the throat.
- Change verbs to male person nouns by adding –er to a verb stem.
- To form a yes/no question in the perfect tense, swap the subject and the verb and send the past participle to the end.
- To form a yes/no question in the imperfect tense, swap the subject and the verb.
Keywords
Male agent noun - a noun for someone who performs the action of a verb, usually ending in -er; for example, worker - ‘Arbeiter’
Imperfect tense - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing; for example, 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'
Perfect tense - German two-word past tense using either 'haben' or 'sein' with a past participle
Common misconception
Asking yes/no questions in the past is much more complicated than the present tense, as the rules are different. You need to translate 'did'.
The English 'did' isn't needed. Swap subject and verb for a yes/no question. 'Er sprach' (imperfect) becomes 'Sprach er?'. In the perfect tense, the past participle stays at the end of the sentence: 'Er hat gesprochen' - 'Hat er gesprochen?'.
Equipment
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
Q2.Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
Q3.Past participles of -ieren verbs always end in .
Q4.Which of these statements correctly describe how to form a yes/no question in German?
Q5.Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'Did you answer the question?'
Q6.Which verbs do not have 'ge-' at the beginning of their past participles?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the subjects to the correct imperfect verb forms.
Q2.Sort the words below into the correct order to complete the following sentence: 'Du __________ sehr müde, als wir im Kino __________. Der Film __________ spannend und ihr __________ glücklich.'
Q3.Sort the words below into the correct order to complete the following sentence: Male __________ nouns add __________ to the __________ stem. Then add __________ for the feminine form of the noun.
Q4.Match these German male agent nouns to their English meanings.
