Who should do what? Meanings of 'sollen', 'müssen', 'dürfen'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use 'sollen' to say who should do what and to express probability, and apply my knowledge of language to link unfamiliar vocabulary to word families.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Pronounce both letters in the sound-symbol correspondence [pf] in German.
- The English spelling 'p' often corresponds to [pf] in German.
- Use your existing knowledge of language to understand meanings of unfamiliar words and to identify word families.
- Use the modal verb 'sollen' to mean ‘should', 'be supposed to’ in expectations or obligations, and for probability.
- Use the modal verb 'müssen' to mean ‘must’ and the modal verb 'dürfen' to mean ‘may', 'allowed’.
Keywords
[pf] - pronounced as in 'Apfel', 'Pferd'
Modal verb - verb of necessity or possibility ('must', 'can', 'want') used with a 2nd verb in infinitive, which goes to the end
Sollen - modal verb meaning 'should', 'be supposed to', 'ought to'
Common misconception
Always use 'müssen' in negative sentences to translate the idea of 'must not' in English.
English often uses 'must not' in lieu of 'don't have to', 'not allowed to' and 'should not'. However, you should use the correct modal verb in German to express these ideas, e.g. 'du musst nicht', 'du darfst nicht', 'du sollst nicht'.
Teacher tip
Focus on the cross-linguistic differences between the translation of 'must not' by using mini-whiteboard activities to support the checks for understanding in learning cycle 3.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word means 'without'?
Q2.Match the German and English.
to explain, explaining
to allow, allowing
to tell, telling
to like, liking
to do, doing
to try, trying
Q3.Match the German and English.
fun
cake
story, history
horse
opinion
truth
Q4.Order the words to say: 'they gave us a gift'.
Q5.Write in English: 'unsere Tasche ist schwer'.
Q6.Write in German: 'we helped'.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.In which words does [pf] in German correspond to [p] in English?
Q2.'Essen' means 'to eat'. Match the German and English vocabulary from this word family.
edible
to eat, eating (animals)
to overeat, eat too much
meat-eater, carnivore
dining table
dining room
Q3.Match the German and English.
you don't have to
you're not allowed to
you shouldn't (it's a bad idea)
Q4.Write in German: 'you should go'.
To help you plan your 8 German lesson on: Who should do what? Meanings of 'sollen', 'müssen', 'dürfen', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 German lesson on: Who should do what? Meanings of 'sollen', 'müssen', 'dürfen', 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 Making plans: present and future tenses unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.