What I do at school: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can recognise the infinitive of a verb and can form the 3rd person singular from the infinitive in the context of school activities.
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').
- The infinitive of a verb is the form listed in the dictionary. In German, it usually ends in 'en'.
- The short form of the verb (3rd person singular) is used to talk about 'he' or 'she'.
- Remove 'en' from the infinitive and add a 't' for the 3rd person singular of most verbs.
- German has one present tense. English has two present tenses, e.g., 'er macht' can mean 'he does' or 'he is doing'.
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/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’ = ‘He does / He is doing’.
Teacher tip
For an active lesson, students could indicate whether a word contain long/short [o] by standing up or remaining seated when the teacher says the word aloud.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match these German words to their English meanings.
Q2.When are German vowels short?
Q3.Match these forms of the verb 'sein' (to be, being) to their English equivalents.
Q4.Match these forms of the verb 'haben' (to have, having) to their English equivalents.
Q5.Translate the following sentence into English: 'Mein Freund hat ein Haustier.'
Q6.Which word completes the following question? ' es warm oder kalt heute?'
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Which of these words contain a long [o]?
Q2.Which of these words are infinitives?
Q3.Match these German phrases to their English translations.
Q4.To form the verb stem in German, remove __________ from the infinitive.
Q5.Translate the following sentence into German: 'He is playing guitar.'
To help you plan your 7 German lesson on: What I do at school: 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: What I do at school: 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.