What is important in life: infinitive uses, verbs capitalised as nouns
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use infinitives as nouns and know when to use 'zu' with infinitives in the context of important relationships with others.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Using a range of strategies, e.g., synonym spotting, can help deepen vocabulary knowledge.
- Using surrounding words to help infer meaning of unfamiliar words is a key strategy in reading comprehension.
- Infinitive verbs can be changed into nouns by capitalising the first letter of the infinitive.
- Infinitive nouns are always neuter; English equivalents end in -ing, e.g., 'das Schwimmen' - 'swimming'.
- In addition to modal verbs and 'werden', a few other verbs don’t need 'zu' before the infinitive in two-verb sentences.
Keywords
Infer - use of knowledge of the surrounding words in a sentence to work out the meaning of an unfamiliar word
Common misconception
Infinitives are always verbs.
Many infinitives can be used as nouns. In German, infinitive nouns start with a capital letter, are always neuter, can be used with or without 'das' & are typically translated into English with the gerund -ing, e.g., '(das) Schwimmen' - 'swimmming'.
Teacher tip
Teachers may wish to give students opportunities to explore synonyms more widely in the first cycle of the lesson, as a means of supporting vocabulary recall.
Equipment
A mini whiteboard and pen, together with pen and paper for making notes, would be useful, if available.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which verb is not a modal verb?
Q2.Match the German and English.
to help, helping
to clean, cleaning
to protect, protecting
to speak, speaking
to jump, jumping
to work, working
Q3.Match the German and English.
meat
vegetable(s)
season
fruit
place, room
world
Q4.Order the words to say: 'The project was necessary but very difficult.'
Q5.Write in English: 'Sport ist mir wichtig'.
Q6.Write in German: 'we are quite healthy'.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Which word is a synonym for 'toll'?
Q2.'Mein Bruder spielt Klavier. Es ist sehr laut aber schön.'. What does 'Klavier' mean?
Q3.Write the German noun meaning 'dancing'.
Q4.Order the words to say: 'I let the children play in the garden.'
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: What is important in life: infinitive uses, verbs capitalised as nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: What is important in life: infinitive uses, verbs capitalised as nouns, 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 Desires, plans and priorities: 'möcht-' future and use of infinitive unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.