New
New
Year 8

A house move: adjective endings with definite articles (accusative)

Learning outcomes

I can describe the features and contents of a house using definite articles and nominative and accusative adjective endings.

I can confidently pronounce words with the same [eu] and [äu] sound and distinguish between this and other similar sounds.

New
New
Year 8

A house move: adjective endings with definite articles (accusative)

Learning outcomes

I can describe the features and contents of a house using definite articles and nominative and accusative adjective endings.

I can confidently pronounce words with the same [eu] and [äu] sound and distinguish between this and other similar sounds.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The sound-symbol correspondences [eu] and [äu] have the same sound, which is different from [au].
  2. Cognates help you understand new words more quickly, since they look or sound similar to words in your own language.
  3. It’s important to be aware of false friends - words that are similar in two languages but have different meanings.
  4. German adjectives take endings before a noun — you need to know the noun’s gender and case to get them right.
  5. The accusative case is used for the direct object, after most verbs and some prepositions.

Keywords

  • False friend - word that looks or sounds similar in two languages but has a different meaning

  • Definite article - words 'der', 'die', 'das' meaning ‘the’

  • Accusative - case used for the direct object in a sentence, after most verbs and some prepositions

Common misconception

All German words that look or sound similar to words in English are cognates.

Similar looking and sounding words are only cognates if they share the same meaning in both languages. When the meaning is different, similar words are called false friends.


To help you plan your year 8 German lesson on: A house move: adjective endings with definite articles (accusative), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Teachers could increase the written challenge in the final Task C3 task by using English adjectives in each gap. Alternatively, comprehension would be challenged by providing the base forms of all the German adjectives in jumbled order below the text.
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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 up the German and the English.

Correct Answer:See (m),lake

lake

Correct Answer:Hose (f),trousers

trousers

Correct Answer:hängen,to hang, hanging

to hang, hanging

Correct Answer:noch ein(e),another, one more

another, one more

Correct Answer:verdienen,to earn, earning

to earn, earning

Correct Answer:kaufen,to buy, buying

to buy, buying

Q2.
Match the German and the English.

Correct Answer:Wand (f),wall

wall

Correct Answer:fast,almost

almost

Correct Answer:teuer,expensive

expensive

Correct Answer:billig,cheap

cheap

Correct Answer:bequem,comfortable

comfortable

Correct Answer:es gefällt mir,it pleases me, I like it

it pleases me, I like it

Q3.
What is the meaning of 'als' in the following sentence: 'Maria ist kleiner als Susan.'

Correct Answer: than

Q4.
Choose the correct form of the adjective to complete the following sentence: 'Ich habe ein __________ Haus.' (I have a small house.)

klein
kleine
Correct answer: kleines

Q5.
Choose the correct form of the adjective to complete the following sentence: 'Ich habe einen __________ Bleistift.' (I have a blue pencil)

Correct answer: blauen
blauer
blau

Q6.
Choose the correct translation of the following sentence: 'Sometimes I buy books.'

Manchmal ich kaufe Bücher.
Manchmal ich Bücher kaufe.
Correct answer: Manchmal kaufe ich Bücher.

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
For adjectives used with the definite article ('der, die, das'), which of the following have the same form in the nominative and accusative?

masculine and feminine
Correct answer: feminine and neuter
masculine and neuter

Q2.
Match up the German and the English.

Correct Answer:Stoff (m),material

material

Correct Answer:Raum (m),room

room

Correct Answer:Sachen (fpl),things

things

Correct Answer:Dinge (ntpl),things

things

Correct Answer:wohin,where (to)

where (to)

Correct Answer:wo,where

where

Q3.
Match the German and the English.

Correct Answer:beschreiben,to describe, describing

to describe, describing

Correct Answer:Dame (f),lady

lady

Correct Answer:Nachbar (m),neighbour

neighbour

Correct Answer:Beruf,job, profession, occupation

job, profession, occupation

Correct Answer:laut,according to

according to

Correct Answer:Milliarde (f),billion

billion

Q4.
Choose the correct form of the adjective to complete the following sentence: 'Ich habe den __________ Vogel gesehen.' (I have seen the yellow bird.)

gelb
gelbe
Correct answer: gelben

Additional material

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