School activities: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can read, talk and write about activities that someone does at school using the 3rd person singular.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- [o] can be either short (followed by 2 consonants) or long (followed by a single consonant, double vowel or 'h').
- Remove 'en' from the infinitive to create the verb stem and add 't' for the 3rd person singular of most verbs in German.
- Use 'er' for he and 'sie' for she with the 3rd person singular of the verb.
- If the verb stem ends in –d or –t, an –e is added so that you can hear the verb ending –t.
Keywords
[o] - pronounced as in 'Wo?' or 'Kopf'
Infinitive - the dictionary form of a verb
3rd person singular - the short form of a verb, used to say what he or she does or is doing
Common misconception
The present continuous, e.g., ‘he is doing’, is translated as ‘er ist machen’.
There is only one present tense in German. ‘Er macht’ means both ‘he does' and 'he is doing’.
Teacher tip
Task B4 lends itself to the use of mini-whiteboards for quick assessment of students' learning.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the German below to the correct English translations.
pet
teacher
world
I have
true
Isn't it?
Q2.What is the infinitive?
Q3.Which words contain a long [o]?
Q4.Which of the following words are in the 3rd person singular?
Q5.Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'Er in der Schule.' (He learns at school.)
Q6.Fill in the gap in the following sentence: '__________ es kalt oder warm heute?' (Is it cold or warm today?)
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Match these German phrases to their English translations.
to do the task
to learn German
to write in lessons
to be in the school
to play with friends
to have a bottle of water
Q2.Which words have a short [o]?
Q3.Translate the following sentence into German: 'She plays guitar.'
Q4.What happens if a verb stem ends in '-d' or '-t'?
Q5.Translate the following sentence into German: 'He is talking with friends.'
To help you plan your 7 German lesson on: School activities: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 German lesson on: School activities: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 German lessons from the Activities in and out of school: present tense (singular) weak verbs unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.