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      Opinions about school: singular 'finden', 'ihn', 'sie', 'es', 'sie' (plural)

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can say what I, you or another person think about school using the verb 'finden' and object pronouns.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. [s] sounds like the English 'z'.
      2. [ß] sounds like the English 's'.
      3. The verb 'finden' adds an 'e' before the '-st' and '-t' endings to make it easier to pronounce: 'du findest, er findet'.
      4. The object pronoun 'it' is masculine 'ihn', feminine 'sie' or neuter 'es'; 'ihn' or 'sie' also mean 'him' or 'her'.
      5. To say 'them' in German, use the plural object pronoun 'sie' for all genders.

      Keywords

      • [s] - pronounced as in 'sollen'

      • [ß] - pronounced as in 'groß' or 'lassen'

      • Finden - verb meaning 'to find, finding', frequently used to seek or express an opinion and often translated as 'to think'

      • Object pronoun - replaces the noun receiving the action of the verb, e.g., me, you, it, them

      Common misconception

      [ß] is a capitalised letter 'B'.

      [ß] is a symbol representing 'ss' and is called 'Eszett' or 'scharfes s'.

      Teacher tip

      For Task A2, teachers could provide students with card to create a deck of snap cards with relevant vocabulary.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), 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

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the German words below to the correct English translations.

      Correct Answer:kochen,to cook, cooking
      Correct Answer:mögen,to like, liking
      Correct Answer:arbeiten,to work, working
      Correct Answer:wohnen,to live, living
      Correct Answer:sitzen,to sit, sitting
      Correct Answer:putzen,to clean, cleaning

      Q2.
      Match the German words below to the correct English translations.

      Correct Answer:Geschenk (nt),present
      Correct Answer:Gutschein (m),voucher
      Correct Answer:Handy (nt),mobile phone
      Correct Answer:Zimmer (nt),room
      Correct Answer:Fahrrad (nt),bicycle, bike
      Correct Answer:Lehrer (mpl),teachers

      Q3.
      Which word below is not a subject pronoun?

      er
      ich
      du
      Correct answer: ihn
      sie

      Q4.
      What happens to the masculine definite article 'der' after a verb?

      it becomes 'ihn'
      Correct answer: it becomes 'den'
      it becomes 'einen'
      it stays the same

      Q5.
      Complete the following sentence using the correct object pronoun: 'Die Schule - Ich mag .'

      Correct Answer: sie

      Q6.
      Translate the following sentence into English: 'Ich mag es nicht.'

      Correct Answer: I don't like it., I do not like it., I dislike it.

      5 Questions

      Q1.
      What does the symbol [ß] represent?

      a 'B'
      a 'z'
      Correct answer: a double s - 'ss'
      a single s - 's'

      Q2.
      When does [s] sound like the English 'z'?

      Correct answer: at the start of a word
      at the end of a word
      Correct answer: in the middle of a word
      if there is a double 'ss'

      Q3.
      Match the German words below to the correct English translations.

      Correct Answer:schlecht,bad
      Correct Answer:leicht,easy
      Correct Answer:schwierig,difficult, hard
      Correct Answer:wichtig,important
      Correct Answer:langweilig,boring
      Correct Answer:streng,strict

      Q4.
      Complete the following sentence using the correct form of 'finden': 'Du den Unterricht gut.'

      Correct Answer: findest

      Q5.
      You are referring to a group of teachers. Translate the following sentence into German: 'I find them good.'

      Correct Answer: Ich finde sie gut., 'Ich finde sie gut.'

      To help you plan your 7 German lesson on: Opinions about school: singular 'finden', 'ihn', 'sie', 'es', 'sie' (plural), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...