New
New
Year 9

Festivals and traditions: using plural verbs reflexively

Learning outcomes

I can use verbs reflexively to describe people's self-directed actions in the context of traditional festivals.

I can use my knowledge of stress and sound-symbol correspondences to read text aloud with accurate pronunciation.

New
New
Year 9

Festivals and traditions: using plural verbs reflexively

Learning outcomes

I can use verbs reflexively to describe people's self-directed actions in the context of traditional festivals.

I can use my knowledge of stress and sound-symbol correspondences to read text aloud with accurate pronunciation.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Idioms are expressions that often don’t have a literal meaning and may not translate directly into another language.
  2. Several German idioms include ‘Wurst’ because sausage is a culturally important German food, popular at many festivals.
  3. Stress is part of intonation and syllable stress refers to the syllable in a word that is spoken more strongly.
  4. Plural reflexive pronouns 'uns', 'euch' and 'sich' make verbs reflexive when subject and object are the same.
  5. In sentences where subject and object are different, 'uns' (us) and 'euch' (you all) are object pronouns.

Keywords

  • Idiom - phrase whose meaning isn’t always literal and doesn’t always translate word for word

  • Stress - pronouncing one syllable more heavily than other syllables in a word

  • Reflexive pronoun - used to indicate doing something to yourself, words like ‘myself’ and ‘yourself’

Common misconception

The meaning of all German phrases should be taken literally.

Just like English, German contains idioms, phrases that mean something other than their literal meaning, e.g., ‘da haben wir den Salat’ - 'we have the salad there', which should be understood as 'now we have a problem'.


To help you plan your year 9 German lesson on: Festivals and traditions: using plural verbs reflexively, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Teachers may wish to explore the cultural aspects of the lesson by showing students video clips of Oktoberfest celebrations, e.g., the serving of Wurst, traditional costumes and 'Blasmusik' - brass or woodwind band music, and also the Kölner Karneval.
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 subject to the correct object pronoun.

Correct Answer:ich,mich

mich

Correct Answer:du,dich

dich

Correct Answer:wir,uns

uns

Correct Answer:ihr,euch

euch

Correct Answer:sie (they),sich

sich

Q2.
Match the German and the English.

Correct Answer:Bett (n),bed

bed

Correct Answer:Stuhl (m),chair

chair

Correct Answer:Geist (m),ghost

ghost

Correct Answer:Leistung (f),performance

performance

Correct Answer:Traum (m),dream

dream

Correct Answer:Blatt (n),leaf/ sheet

leaf/ sheet

Q3.
Match each verb to its meaning.

Correct Answer:anziehen,to put on

to put on

Correct Answer:fühlen,to feel, feeling

to feel, feeling

Correct Answer:nennen,to name, naming

to name, naming

Correct Answer:halten,to hold, stop

to hold, stop

Correct Answer:waschen,to wash, washing

to wash, washing

Correct Answer:fassen,to grasp, grasping

to grasp, grasping

Q4.
How do you say '14:35' in German using the 24-hour clock?

Correct answer: vierzehn Uhr fünfunddreißig
vierzehn Uhr fünfundvierzig
halb drei
vier Uhr dreißig

Q5.
Put the words below in the correct order to form an open question in German.

1 - wann
2 - gehen
3 - wir
4 - ins
5 - Kino

Q6.
Translate into English: 'dann wasche ich mich'.

Correct Answer: then I wash, then I wash myself, I wash then, I wash myself then

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Complete the following sentence using the correct reflexive pronoun: 'Wir waschen .'

Correct Answer: uns

Q2.
Match each idiom to its meaning.

Correct Answer:Da haben wir den Salat.,Now we have a problem.

Now we have a problem.

Correct Answer:Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat 2.,Everything comes to an end.

Everything comes to an end.

Correct Answer:Das ist mir Wurst.,I don't care.

I don't care.

Q3.
What is the best definition of a German idiom?

a sentence that describes food
a phrase that uses only literal words
Correct answer: a phrase whose meaning isn’t always literal and doesn’t always translate exactly
a phrase with adjectives and nouns only

Q4.
Put these words in the correct order to say: 'We are improving ourselves.'

1 - wir
2 - verbessern
3 - uns
4 - (selbst)

Q5.
Translate into English: 'dann wascht ihr euch'.

Correct Answer: then you wash yourselves, you wash yourselves then, then you all wash yourselves, you all wash yourselves then, you then wash yourselves

Q6.
Why do many German idioms include the word 'Wurst'?

Germans often forget to say the word 'Wurst'.
'Wurst' is an English word too.
Correct answer: Wurst is culturally important and part of many traditional celebrations.
It makes the phrase funny.

Additional material

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