New
New
Year 8

Opinions: verbs with indirect objects

I can understand likes and dislikes and other opinions using verbs with direct and indirect objects.

New
New
Year 8

Opinions: verbs with indirect objects

I can understand likes and dislikes and other opinions using verbs with direct and indirect objects.

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Combining previously taught and new words in new contexts strengthens vocabulary knowledge.
  2. Indirect objects are people or things that the verb action is done 'to' or 'for', e.g., 'the book belongs to the pupil'.
  3. Indirect object pronouns replace indirect objects that we don't need to repeat, e.g., 'the book belongs to him/her'.
  4. Verbs that are always used with indirect object pronouns are called dative verbs.
  5. Some dative verbs translate differently into English - 'das Buch gefällt mir' - the book pleases me > I like the book.

Keywords

  • Indirect object pronoun (IOP) - replaces the person, people or thing(s) that the verb action is done to, when the action is to me, for you

  • Dative verb - verb that is used with an indirect object (pronoun)

Common misconception

There is one verb meaning 'to like' in German, and that is 'mögen'.

'Mögen' is 'to like', e.g., 'ich mag Mathe' ('I like maths'). However, 'gefallen' is another verb for expressing 'liking'. Its literal meaning is 'to please', so it's used with an indirect object, e.g., 'Mathe gefällt mir' - 'I like maths'.


To help you plan your year 8 german lesson on: Opinions: verbs with indirect objects, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

It helps pupils grasp 'gefallen' if we connect it to other dative verbs that work the same way and are translated more literally, e.g., gehören, helfen. Das Buch gehört mir; das Buch hilft mir, das Buch gefällt mir. The book belongs to me, the book helps me, the book pleases me - I like the book.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Loading...

Some of our videos, including non-English language videos, do not have captions.

6 Questions

Q1.
'Heute war ein __________ Tag.' Choose the correct missing word.
normal
Correct answer: normaler
normales
normale
normalen
Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Auge (nt),eye

eye

Correct Answer:Haare (ntpl),hair(s)

hair(s)

Correct Answer:Mund (m),mouth

mouth

Correct Answer:Nase (f),nose

nose

Correct Answer:Schüler (m),pupil

pupil

Correct Answer:Telefon (nt),telephone

telephone

Q3.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:ähnlich,similar

similar

Correct Answer:breit,wide, broad

wide, broad

Correct Answer:dünn,thin

thin

Correct Answer:klein,small

small

Correct Answer:langsam,slow

slow

Correct Answer:schnell,fast

fast

Q4.
'Ich arbeite Lehrer.' Write the correct missing word for 'as'.
Correct Answer: als
Q5.
Write in English: 'Es gibt einen neuen Jugendclub.'
Correct Answer: there is a new youth club, there's a new youth club
Q6.
Write in German: 'He has a round face.'
Correct Answer: er hat ein rundes Gesicht

4 Questions

Q1.
Which of these words indicate that you like something in German?
gehören
finden
Correct answer: gern
Correct answer: gefallen
Correct answer: mögen
Q2.
'Mein Hund gefällt meiner Schwester.' Which indirect object pronoun would we use in this sentence?
mir
ihm
Correct answer: ihr
Q3.
'Mir fehlt das Buch.' Choose the correct translation.
I like the book.
The book is falling.
I find the book difficult.
Correct answer: I don't have the book.
I feel like reading the book.
Q4.
Write in German: 'I'm sorry.'
Correct Answer: es tut mir Leid

Additional material

Download additional material