New
New
Year 9

New Year's resolutions: word order with two-verb structures

I can express New Year's resolutions using extended sentences, a range of conjunctions and two-verb constructions.

New
New
Year 9

New Year's resolutions: word order with two-verb structures

I can express New Year's resolutions using extended sentences, a range of conjunctions and two-verb constructions.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Seeing vocabulary in a range of contexts is a good way to support effective learning.
  2. Chinese New Year is celebrated every January/February by around 120 000 people of Chinese descent who live in Germany.
  3. Conjunctions like ‘denn’ and ‘aber’ do not cause a change in word order.
  4. Subordinating conjunctions like ‘weil’ and ‘obwohl’ send the verb moves to the end of the clause, word order 3.
  5. Subordinating conjunctions (WO3) with a two-verb structure, the short form verb is after the infinitive at the end.

Keywords

  • Conjunction - word that connects ideas between clauses in a sentence

  • Word order 3 (WO3) - after certain conjunctions, the verb is sent to the end of the sentence or clause

Common misconception

When using two-verb constructions, the second verb is always in the infinitive and comes at the end of the clause.

When a two-verb construction follows a subordinating conjunction like ‘weil’, the short form of the verb moves to the end, after the infinitive (WO3), e.g., ‘Ich hoffe, dieses Jahr zu feiern, weil es Spaß machen wird.’.


To help you plan your year 9 German lesson on: New Year's resolutions: word order with two-verb structures, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

A cultural theme in the lesson is Chinese New Year and teachers may wish to search for video clips of New Year festivities in Germany to enhance the student experience.
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 each German verb to its English meaning.

Correct Answer:zuhören,to listen, listening

to listen, listening

Correct Answer:wünschen,to wish, wishing

to wish, wishing

Correct Answer:stellen,to place, set upright

to place, set upright

Correct Answer:klettern,to climb, climbing

to climb, climbing

Correct Answer:planen,to plan, planning

to plan, planning

Correct Answer:studieren,to sudy, studying

to sudy, studying

Q2.
Which sentence ending is correct? 'Ich plane, besser __________.'

zuhören
Correct answer: zuzuhören
zu zuhören
hören zu

Q3.
Complete the following sentence: 'Ich habe vor, zu klettern.' (I plan to climb more.)

Correct Answer: mehr

Q4.
Put the words below in the correct order to form a sentence. Start with 'ich'.

1 - ich
2 - möchte
3 - an
4 - der
5 - Universität
6 - studieren

Q5.
In which of these sentences is having 'aufzustehen' at the end not correct?

Ich plane, morgen früh aufzustehen.
Es ist wichtig, früh aufzustehen.
Correct answer: Ich möchte früh aufzustehen.
Ich habe vor, um sechs Uhr aufzustehen.

Q6.
How do you say 'She plans to dance.' in German?

Correct Answer: sie plant zu tanzen

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Match the German and the English.

Correct Answer:aber,but

but

Correct Answer:weil, denn,because

because

Correct Answer:obwohl,although

although

Q2.
Which sentence uses the correct word order after a subordinating conjunction?

Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich bin müde.
Correct answer: Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich müde bin.
Ich bleibe zu Hause, denn ich müde bin.
Ich bleibe zu Hause, obwohl ich bin müde.

Q3.
Which sentence uses the correct word order for two verbs in the second clause?

Ich will fit sein, weil ich möchte tanzen.
Correct answer: Ich will fit sein, weil ich tanzen möchte.
Ich will fit sein, weil ich zu tanzen möchte.

Q4.
Put the words below in the correct order to complete the second clause: 'Ich höre Musik, __________.'

1 - weil
2 - ich
3 - Sport
4 - treibe

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