Why? Two-verb structures with 'um ... zu', imperfect modals 'durfte', 'sollte'
I can answer the question 'why' using 'um ... zu', 'weil' or 'denn' clauses and I can use modal verbs in the imperfect and present tenses to discuss helping others in the past and present.
- Year 9
Why? Two-verb structures with 'um ... zu', imperfect modals 'durfte', 'sollte'
I can answer the question 'why' using 'um ... zu', 'weil' or 'denn' clauses and I can use modal verbs in the imperfect and present tenses to discuss helping others in the past and present.
Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Remove any umlauts from the stem of a modal verb and add -te for 1st and 3rd person singular imperfect tense.
- Remove any umlauts from the stem of a modal verb and add -test to form its 2nd person singular imperfect tense.
- 'Um ... zu', meaning 'in order to', is used with an infinitive to answer the question 'why'.
- 'Denn' (word order 1) and 'weil' (word order 3) both mean 'because' and can start clauses to answer the question 'why'.
Keywords
Um ... zu - structure meaning 'in order to' with an infinitive
Modal verb - verb of necessity or possibility ('must', 'can', 'want') used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, which goes to the end
2-verb structure - clause containing a conjugated verb and a 2nd verb in the infinitive
Imperfect tense - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Common misconception
To answer the question 'why' you have to use 'weil' or 'denn', which mean 'because'.
The structure 'um ... zu' followed by an infinitive verb means 'in order to' and can be used to give a reason or say why something is done. This structure is the same for any tense.
Equipment
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Order the months from earliest to latest.
Q2.Which verb is separable?
Q3.Match the German and English.
