Famous lives: 'als' as 'when' with the past tense
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can say calendar years in German, recognise pairs of nouns and verbs, and correctly use the conjunction 'als' to talk about past events.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- For calendar years in German, say the hundred or thousand, but leave out the 'und', e.g., 2001 - 'zweitausend(und)eins'.
- Add -er or -ung to the stem of some verbs to create related nouns, e.g., 'forschen' - 'der Forscher' - 'die Forschung'.
- Add -in to some masculine people nouns to create the feminine form, e.g., 'der Entdecker', 'die Entdeckerin'.
- The conjunction 'als' means 'when' for a one-off past event. It triggers word order three, sending the verb to the end.
- Use 'wenn' to mean 'when' for present or future events. The question word is 'wann'.
Keywords
Als - conjunction meaning 'when', which triggers word order three, sending the verb to the end of the clause
Word order three - after certain conjunctions, the verb is sent to the end of the sentence or clause
Common misconception
There is only one way of saying 'when' in German.
Use 'wenn' to mean 'when' for present or future events. The question word is 'wann'. The conjunction 'als' means 'when', for a one-off past event. It sends the verb to the end of the clause, like 'weil'.
Teacher tip
In Task A2, extend classroom discussion by asking students 'Wann war das?', 'Was war früher/später?'.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.'Was macht __________ nach der Schule?'. Choose the correct pronoun.
Q2.'__________ kommst du?'. Choose the correct question word(s).
Q3.Match the German and English.
Q4.Match the German and English.
Q5.Write in English: 'Ich habe ein gutes Gefühl.'
Q6.Write in German: 'I am expecting the guest'.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Write the year 1907 as a full word in German.
Q2.Match each word for 'when' to the correct sentence.
Q3.Order the words to say: 'The researcher (f) and the researcher (m) work together.'
Q4.Order the words to say: 'We celebrated when I had a birthday.'
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: Famous lives: 'als' as 'when' with the past tense, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: Famous lives: 'als' as 'when' with the past tense, 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: perfect and imperfect tenses unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.