What did they do then? Perfect, imperfect 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', compound nouns
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can form compound nouns, recognise patterns in past participles and contrast different past tenses, in the context of talking about what others have done.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- A compound noun is made up of two or more nouns. Its gender comes from the final noun, e.g., 'die Partymusik'
- Some groups of verbs form their past participles following the same vowel changes, e.g., [ei] to [ie]; [e] to [o].
- The imperfect tense is a one-word past tense, mostly used in written German, apart from some key verbs, e.g., 'es gab'.
- Sometimes the present tense is used to narrate past events. This is the 'historical present' and is mostly written.
- The purpose of the historical present is to make events feel more immediate or heighten the drama.
Keywords
Compound noun - a noun made up of two or more nouns
Past participle - verb form that forms the perfect tense, together with the auxiliary verb 'haben' or 'sein'
Imperfect tense - a single-word past tense, used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Common misconception
Verbs form their past participles by sandwiching the verb stem with 'ge-' and '-t' or '-en'.
Not all verbs form past participles in the same way. For instance, verbs that start with inseparable prefixes or end '-ieren' do not add 'ge-'. Some groups of verbs have a vowel change in the stem, e.g., 'finden', 'gefunden'.
Teacher tip
Encourage students to read aloud the patterns of vowel changes in past participles to help embed the learning.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.'Er gab mir __________ Buch.' Which articles could complete this sentence?
Q2.Match the German and English.
stayed
went (by transport)
flew
went
wrote
met
Q3.Match the German and English.
Germany
parents
family
aeroplane
aunt
holiday
Q4.Order the words to say: 'We drank a small bottle of water.'
Q5.Write in English: 'er hatte viel Zeit'.
Q6.Write in the perfect tense in German: 'I found the house'.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Which statements are correct?
Q2.Which verbs do not form their past participles by sandwiching the verb stem with 'ge-' and '-t' or '-en'?
Q3.Which verbs have a vowel change in their past participle?
Q4.Write in German: 'the dream school day'.
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: What did they do then? Perfect, imperfect 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', compound nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 German lesson on: What did they do then? Perfect, imperfect 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', compound nouns, 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.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
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.