New
New
Year 8

In the news: 'an' vs 'auf' (accusative and dative)

I can use my knowledge of prepositions 'an' and 'auf' with accusative and dative cases, word patterns and word families to understand and respond to a text about cybersecurity.

New
New
Year 8

In the news: 'an' vs 'auf' (accusative and dative)

I can use my knowledge of prepositions 'an' and 'auf' with accusative and dative cases, word patterns and word families to understand and respond to a text about cybersecurity.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The prepositions 'an' and 'auf' tell us where something or someone is moving to, when used with the accusative case.
  2. The prepositions 'an' and 'auf' tell us where something or someone is located, when used with the dative case.
  3. Knowledge of word patterns and word families helps you to understand more words in a text.

Keywords

  • An - preposition 'on' or 'onto' for a vertical surface

  • Auf - preposition 'on' or 'onto' for a horizontal surface

  • Word family - group of related words with a common ‘base’ word, e.g., 'arbeiten', 'arbeitet', 'die Arbeit', 'der Arbeiter'

Common misconception

I can use 'an' and 'auf' interchangeably to mean 'on' or 'onto'.

We use 'an' to mean 'on' or 'onto' when the position is vertical, e.g., 'on the wall' - 'an der Wand'. We use 'auf' to mean 'on' or 'onto' when the position is horizontal, e.g., 'on the table' - 'auf dem Tisch'.


To help you plan your year 8 German lesson on: In the news: 'an' vs 'auf' (accusative and dative), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Teachers may find it useful to add physical demonstrations of 'an' and 'auf' with classroom objects to reinforce the difference - for example, placing a paper 'an die Tafel' (onto the board) versus 'auf den Tisch' (onto the table). This helps learners link prepositions to real-world spatial actions.
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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

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What does 'Uhr' mean?

Correct answer: clock
hour
Correct answer: o'clock
time
Correct answer: watch

Q2.
In which sentences would 'dir' fit?

Correct answer: Ich antworte __________.
Correct answer: Ich danke __________.
Ich kriege __________.
Ich lerne __________.
Correct answer: Ich schenke __________ eine Pflanze.

Q3.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:sitzen,to sit, be (sitting)

to sit, be (sitting)

Correct Answer:stehen,to stand, be (standing)

to stand, be (standing)

Correct Answer:sein,to be, being

to be, being

Correct Answer:liegen,to lie, be (lying down)

to lie, be (lying down)

Correct Answer:legen,to lay (down)

to lay (down)

Correct Answer:stellen,to put, putting (upright)

to put, putting (upright)

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'What type of music is blues music? It is a type of rock music.'

1 - was für
2 - Musik
3 - ist Bluesmusik?
4 - es ist
5 - eine
6 - Art
7 - Rockmusik

Q5.
Write in English: 'ich habe meinen eigenen Tisch'.

Correct Answer: I have my own table, I've got my own table, I have got my own table

Q6.
Write in German: 'a traditional picture'.

Correct Answer: ein traditionelles Bild

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:fahren,to travel, travelling

to travel, travelling

Correct Answer:Fahrt (f),trip, journey

trip, journey

Correct Answer:Fahrkarte (f),travel ticket

travel ticket

Correct Answer:Fahrer (m),driver

driver

Correct Answer:Fahrrad (nt),bike

bike

Correct Answer:Fahrplan (m),timetable

timetable

Q2.
'Der Hund liegt __________ Boden.' Choose the correct missing words.

an den
an dem
auf den
Correct answer: auf dem

Q3.
'Das Bild hängt Wand.' Write the correct missing words.

Correct Answer: an der

Q4.
'Ich stelle die Uhr Tisch.' Write the correct missing words.

Correct Answer: auf den

Additional material

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