Childhood experiences: imperfect modal verbs 'konnte', 'musste', 'wollte'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can form the imperfect tense of ‘können’, ‘müssen’ and ‘wollen’, and I am aware of aspects of childhood in Germany.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Months of the year are masculine and borrowed from English, but the stressed syllables are not the same.
- Modal verbs are used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, which comes at the end of the sentence.
- The imperfect tense of modal verbs is commonly used when speaking, as well as when writing.
- Add -te to the verb stem of a modal verb for the 1st and 3rd person singular imperfect tense, e.g., 'er musste'.
- Add -test to the verb stem of a modal verb for the 2nd person singular imperfect tense, e.g., 'du wolltest'.
Keywords
Modal verb - verb of necessity or possibility ('must', 'can', 'want') used with a 2nd verb in infinitive, which goes to the end
Imperfect tense - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Common misconception
Modal verbs don't require a 2nd verb in the infinitive unless they are in the present tense.
Modal verbs require a 2nd verb in the infinitive in other tenses, including the imperfect tense, e.g., 'ich konnte schwimmen'. They do not require a preceding 'zu' before the infinitive. Other verbs do.
Teacher tip
Listen to the song 'Die Jahresuhr' by Rolf Zuckowski for a catchy, authentic way of learning months of the year in German.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word means 'somebody'?
Q2.Match the German and English.
movement
chemistry
metre
object
moment
centimetre
Q3.Match the German and English.
to observe, watch
to discover, discovering
to look, watch
to stay, staying
to learn, learning
to lose, losing
Q4.Order the words to say: 'I want to visit the historical castle.'
Q5.Write in English: 'niemand hat die Touristen gesehen'.
Q6.Write in German: 'the flowers are growing'.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Which months stress the second syllable?
Q2.Order the words to say: 'I was able to go with my family.'
Q3.Order the words to say: 'I wanted to go to sleep but you wanted to read.'
Q4.Write in German: 'I had fun and it was good'.
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: Childhood experiences: imperfect modal verbs 'konnte', 'musste', 'wollte', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: Childhood experiences: imperfect modal verbs 'konnte', 'musste', 'wollte', 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.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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Explore more key stage 3 German lessons from the Past lives and experiences: imperfect modal verbs, perfect tense unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.