New
New
Year 9

Famous German speakers: 'bevor' and 'nachdem', word order

Learning outcomes

I can recognise links between nouns and verbs, form the plural of feminine person nouns and use 'bevor' and 'nachdem' to link sentences.

I can correctly pronounce [r].

New
New
Year 9

Famous German speakers: 'bevor' and 'nachdem', word order

Learning outcomes

I can recognise links between nouns and verbs, form the plural of feminine person nouns and use 'bevor' and 'nachdem' to link sentences.

I can correctly pronounce [r].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. When faced with unfamiliar words, use your previous knowledge to identify noun-verb pairs, e.g., 'die Feier' - 'feiern'.
  2. Add -nen to all feminine person nouns ending -in to form their plurals (plural rule six).
  3. The sound-symbol correspondence [r] is formed at the back of the throat, barely moving the lips, e.g., ‘Autorin’.
  4. The conjunction 'bevor' means 'before' and sends the verb to the end of the clause (word order three).
  5. The conjunction 'nachdem' means 'after' and sends the verb to the end of the clause (word order three).

Keywords

  • Plural rule six - add -nen to all feminine person nouns ending -in, e.g., 'Lehrerinnen'

  • Bevor - conjunction meaning 'before', which triggers word order three

  • Nachdem - conjunction meaning 'after', which triggers word order three

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

Common misconception

All conjunctions send the verb to the end of the clause.

Not all conjunctions send the verb to the end of the clause. For example, 'und' and 'denn' use word order one (standard word order). They are called co-ordinating conjunctions.


To help you plan your year 9 German lesson on: Famous German speakers: 'bevor' and 'nachdem', word order, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Use Tasks C2a and C2b as translation exercises to reinforce understanding of conjunctions.
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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.
Which pronoun uses the verb form 'seid'?

du
er
wir
Correct answer: ihr
sie

Q2.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:Dienst (m),service

service

Correct Answer:Fehler (m),mistake

mistake

Correct Answer:Feuer (nt),fire

fire

Correct Answer:Holz (m),wood

wood

Correct Answer:Kosten (pl),costs

costs

Correct Answer:Stunde (f),lesson, hour

lesson, hour

Q3.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:beobachten,to observe, watch

to observe, watch

Correct Answer:dienen,to serve, serving

to serve, serving

Correct Answer:entdecken,to discover, discovering

to discover, discovering

Correct Answer:erwarten,to expect, expecting

to expect, expecting

Correct Answer:kosten,to cost, costing

to cost, costing

Correct Answer:unterstützen,to support, supporting

to support, supporting

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I hide the present under the bed.'

1 - ich
2 - verstecke
3 - das
4 - Geschenk
5 - unter
6 - dem
7 - Bett

Q5.
Write in English: 'er sammelt Postkarten'.

Correct Answer: he collects postcards, he is collecting postcards, he's collecting postcards

Q6.
Write in German: 'they celebrate in the garden'.

Correct Answer: sie feiern im Garten, sie feiern in dem Garten

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
The verb 'lachen' means 'to laugh'. What does the noun 'das Lachen' mean?

Correct Answer: laughter, the laughter, laughing, the laughing

Q2.
A 'male author' is 'Autor'. Write 'female authors' in German.

Correct Answer: Autorinnen, die Autorinnen

Q3.
Match up the sentence halves.

Correct Answer:Ich spiele heute nicht, denn,ich habe kein Geld.

ich habe kein Geld.

Correct Answer:Ich spiele heute nicht, weil,ich kein Geld habe.

ich kein Geld habe.

Correct Answer:Ich habe Tennis gespielt, als,ich jung war.

ich jung war.

Correct Answer:Ich habe Tennis gespielt, und,es war toll.

es war toll.

Correct Answer:Ich spiele Tennis, wenn,ich Zeit habe.

ich Zeit habe.

Correct Answer:Ich spiele Tennis, bevor,ich in die Schule gehe.

ich in die Schule gehe.

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I eat in the café after I go to the cinema.'

1 - ich
2 - esse
3 - im Café
4 - nachdem
5 - ich
6 - ins Kino
7 - gehe

Additional material

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