New
New
Year 8

English and German schools: pronouns 'uns' and 'ihnen'

I can use object pronouns to talk about school.

New
New
Year 8

English and German schools: pronouns 'uns' and 'ihnen'

I can use object pronouns to talk about school.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Practising vocabulary, both known and new, is important for building language knowledge.
  2. Starting school in Germany is different from a child’s first day at school in England.
  3. Many German verbs are followed by direct objects or pronouns; two plural direct object pronouns are ‘uns' and 'sie'.
  4. Some German verbs use indirect or dative objects; two plural indirect object pronouns are 'uns' and 'ihnen'.
  5. Sometimes indirect object pronouns mean ‘to us’, ‘to them’, etc., but they can just mean ‘us’, ‘them’.

Keywords

  • Dative - case used for the indirect object in a sentence and after a dative verb or preposition

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

Common misconception

Object pronouns like me, him, they are always the same in German, like English.

German object pronouns can be direct or indirect; they change their spelling depending on the case needed, e.g. direct object pronoun 'dich' - you is accusative; indirect object pronoun 'dir' - you is dative. The case is often determined by the verb.


To help you plan your year 8 German lesson on: English and German schools: pronouns 'uns' and 'ihnen', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Teachers may wish to explore the first day at school in greater depth with students. There are many videos available online that show what children's experience in Germany is like and this can lead into interesting cultural discussion.
Teacher tip

Equipment

A mini whiteboard and pen, together with pen and paper for making notes, would be useful, if available.

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.
Match the German word with its correct English meaning.
Correct Answer:erzählen,to tell, telling

to tell, telling

Correct Answer:erlauben,to allow, allowing

to allow, allowing

Correct Answer:geben,to give, giving

to give, giving

Correct Answer:helfen,to help, helping

to help, helping

Q2.
Which German word means “our”?
ihr
Correct answer: unser
meine
dein
Q3.
What do we call a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or use?
Correct Answer: suffix
Q4.
Which of these means 'their telephone' in German?
unser Telefon
Correct answer: ihr Telefon
ihre Telefon
ihre Telefone
Q5.
In which word is the syllable [er] not usually stressed?
erzählen
Correct answer: Bruder
er
erlauben
Q6.
Match the German and the English
Correct Answer:das Hobby,the hobby

the hobby

Correct Answer:der Verein,the club

the club

Correct Answer:das Handy,the mobile phone

the mobile phone

Correct Answer:die Antwort,the answer

the answer

Correct Answer:die Straße,the street

the street

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
Match the English and the German.
Correct Answer:erklären,to explain, explaining

to explain, explaining

Correct Answer:erlauben,to allow, allowing

to allow, allowing

Correct Answer:erzählen,to tell, telling

to tell, telling

Correct Answer:gegeben,gave, given

gave, given

Correct Answer:geholfen,helped

helped

Q2.
What is one main way that a child's first day at school in Germany is different from in England?
They wear school uniforms in Germany.
They don’t start school until age 9.
Correct answer: They receive a 'Schultüte' with gifts.
They walk to school alone from age 4.
Q3.
In the sentence: Er gibt ihnen ein Buch, what does 'ihnen' mean?
them (as the direct object)
Correct answer: to them (as the indirect object)
him
us
Q4.
Fill in the gap with the correct word for 'us': Unsere Lehrerin hilft mit den Hausaufgaben.
Correct Answer: uns
Q5.
Fill in the gap with the correct word for 'to them': Ich erkläre die Aufgabe.
Correct Answer: ihnen

Additional material

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