Who, what, how and where? Forming questions, compound nouns
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can ask questions in German using the question words 'Wer?', 'Wie?', 'Was?' and 'Wo?' and can form compound words.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- [w] sounds like the English [v].
- The question word 'Wer?' means 'Who?'.
- The question words 'Was?', 'Wo?' and 'Wie?' mean 'What?', 'Where?' and 'How?'.
- Two nouns can combine to form a compound noun, which takes the gender of the 2nd noun; for example, 'der Fußball'.
Keywords
Compound noun - two or more nouns put together to make one long word
[w] - pronounced [w] as in 'Wo?'
Wer - who
Information question - wh- word question that requires more information in the answer than just yes/no
Translator - person who translates text from one language to another
Common misconception
'Wer?' means 'Where?'.
'Wer?' means 'Who?'. A good way to remember its meaning is to think of a ‘hoover’: 'Who Wer?'.
Teacher tip
Not all question words work with all nouns, e.g., 'Wer?' only makes sense with living things. This should be highlighted in Task B1.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
table
window
bottle
board
exercise book
Q2.Match each article to the correct grammatical gender.
masculine
feminine
neuter
Q3.Match up the long form of each German verb to the correct English translations.
to know, knowing
to be, being
to say, to tell
Q4.Match the German adjectives to the correct English translations.
blue
red
yellow
small
big
Q5.True or false? If someone asked you 'Wie sagt man das?', you would tell them how to say something.
Q6.Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
colour
number
place
I don't know
hello
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these words are compound nouns?
Q2.Match the German nouns below to the correct English translations.
teacher
water
world
word
friend
Q3.Match the German question words to the correct English translations.
Where?
Who?
What?
How? / Like what?
Q4.Match the questions below to the correct answers.
Die Klasse ist da.
Das ist ein Fenster.
Gut, danke.
Das ist der Deutschlehrer.
Der Mann ist klein.
Q5.What is the most natural English translation of 'nicht wahr' at the end of a question?
Q6.A translator has translated these sentences from English into German. Which ones are correct?
To help you plan your 7 German lesson on: Who, what, how and where? Forming questions, compound nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 German lesson on: Who, what, how and where? Forming questions, compound 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 In the classroom: 'sein', nouns, articles, questions unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.