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      Christmas traditions: 'sein' 3rd person singular and plural, plurals - +(e)n

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can recognise and use German plural rule 3 - add -(e)n to feminine nouns - and say what things are like using ‘ist’ and ‘sind’.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. 'Sein' means 'to be, being', 'ist' (is) is the 3rd person singular and 'sind' is the 3rd person plural.
      2. For all plural nouns, the German word for 'the' is 'die'.
      3. For noun plural rule 3, most feminine nouns add '-n' or '-en'.
      4. Feminine nouns ending in -el, -en or -er almost always add -n or -en in the plural form too.

      Keywords

      • Sein - to be, being

      • Ist - 3rd person singular of ‘sein’, ‘is’

      • Sind - 3rd person plural form of ‘sein’, ‘are’

      • Plural - more than one

      Common misconception

      Feminine noun plurals are the same as masculine and neuter noun plurals.

      Most feminine nouns add either an -e or an -en to the end of the noun in its plural form. Feminine nouns ending in -el or -er also add an -n unlike in the masculine and neuter form where nouns ending in these letters don't tend to change.

      Teacher tip

      When teaching new nouns, always remind students to learn their grammatical gender and their plural forms.

      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.
      Match up the forms of 'haben' to the correct English forms of 'to have'.

      Correct Answer:haben,to have, having
      Correct Answer:hat,has
      Correct Answer:habe,have

      Q2.
      Match the German words below to the correct English translations.

      Correct Answer:das Spiel,game
      Correct Answer:der Platz,place, room
      Correct Answer:der Arzt,doctor
      Correct Answer:das Stück,piece
      Correct Answer:der Zug,train

      Q3.
      Match up the German words below to the correct English translations.

      Correct Answer:es gibt,there is, there are
      Correct Answer:auch,also
      Correct Answer:viele,lots of, many
      Correct Answer:grün,green

      Q4.
      Which word means 'never'?

      Correct answer: nie
      manchmal
      oft
      kaum

      Q5.
      Translate the following sentence into English: 'Es gibt viele Winter.'

      Correct Answer: There are lots of winters., There are many winters., There are a lot of winters.

      Q6.
      Match the German verbs below to the correct English translations.

      Correct Answer:zuhören,listen, listening
      Correct Answer:sprechen,speak, speaking
      Correct Answer:lesen,read, reading
      Correct Answer:schreiben,to write, writing

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the German vocabulary below to the correct English translations.

      Correct Answer:die Katze,cat
      Correct Answer:der Hund,dog
      Correct Answer:die Idee,idea
      Correct Answer:die Kirche,church
      Correct Answer:die Familie,family
      Correct Answer:die Woche,week

      Q2.
      Match the verb forms below to their English meanings.

      Correct Answer:bekommen,to get, to receive
      Correct Answer:bekommt,gets, receives
      Correct Answer:sein,to be, being
      Correct Answer:sind,are
      Correct Answer:ist,is

      Q3.
      Write the correct form of the verb 'bekommen' to complete the following sentence: 'Der Weihnachtsmann die Liste.'

      Correct Answer: bekommt

      Q4.
      Which letters do most feminine nouns add in their plural form?

      Correct answer: -en
      Correct answer: -n
      -el
      -s

      Q5.
      Select the words that are plural.

      Correct answer: Listen
      Wort
      Correct answer: Wochen
      Correct answer: Antworten
      Haustier

      Q6.
      Translate the following sentence into German: 'The windows are green.'

      Correct Answer: Die Fenster sind grün., Die Fenster sind gruen.

      To help you plan your 7 German lesson on: Christmas traditions: 'sein' 3rd person singular and plural, plurals - +(e)n, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...