New
New
Lesson 5 of 5
  • Year 9

What makes us happy? Authentic texts, relative pronouns and comparatives

Learning outcomes

I can apply the full extent of my linguistic knowledge to help me understand authentic texts about happiness.

I can correctly pronounce [er].

Lesson 5 of 5
New
New
  • Year 9

What makes us happy? Authentic texts, relative pronouns and comparatives

Learning outcomes

I can apply the full extent of my linguistic knowledge to help me understand authentic texts about happiness.

I can correctly pronounce [er].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. By regularly revisiting a range of vocabulary, you will be better prepared to understand authentic texts.
  2. Add –er to an adjective or adverb to form the comparative. Some comparatives are irregular, such as 'gut' - 'besser'.
  3. Relative clauses add information about the noun in a main clause, without starting another sentence.
  4. Relative clauses start with a relative pronoun. Use the definite article that matches the noun in the main clause.
  5. 'Wenn' (if, when[ever]) is a conjunction that triggers word order three, sending the verb to the end of the statement.

Keywords

  • Comparative - a form of adjective or adverb used to compare people, things or ideas

  • Relative clause - adds information about the noun in the main clause

  • Wenn - conjunction meaning 'if, when(ever)'

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

Common misconception

Words which look the same in English and German will have the same meaning.

There are many false friends in German. These are words that look exactly the same but do not have the same meaning: for example, 'bald' means 'soon'.


To help you plan your year 9 German lesson on: What makes us happy? Authentic texts, relative pronouns and comparatives, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage students to make flashcards of false friends.
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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.
Which word means 'between'?

draußen
links
über
unter
Correct answer: zwischen

Q2.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:Welt (f),world

world

Correct Answer:Dach (nt),roof

roof

Correct Answer:Ecke (f),corner

corner

Correct Answer:Keller (m),cellar

cellar

Correct Answer:Licht (nt),light

light

Correct Answer:Stimmung (f),atmosphere

atmosphere

Q3.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:beschließen,to decide, deciding

to decide, deciding

Correct Answer:melden,to register, report

to register, report

Correct Answer:sich freuen,to be happy

to be happy

Correct Answer:sich fühlen,to feel, feeling

to feel, feeling

Correct Answer:unterhalten,to entertain, entertaining

to entertain, entertaining

Correct Answer:wissen,to know, knowing

to know, knowing

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'We invite you to our party'.

1 - wir
2 - laden
3 - euch
4 - zu
5 - unserer
6 - Party
7 - ein

Q5.
Write in English: 'Was ist eine typische Tradition?'

Correct Answer: what is a typical tradition, what's a typical tradition

Q6.
Write in German: 'there is an enormous festival'.

Correct Answer: es gibt ein riesiges Fest

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which noun is not a false friend?

der Chef
der Gang
Correct answer: das Hotel
die Hose
die Wand

Q2.
Order the words to say: 'I am happy when she plays music.'

1 - ich
2 - bin
3 - glücklich
4 - wenn
5 - sie
6 - Musik
7 - spielt

Q3.
Write in German: 'the relationship is stronger'.

Correct Answer: die Beziehung ist stärker, die Beziehung ist staerker

Q4.
Write in German: 'a religion which is important'.

Correct Answer: eine Religion, die wichtig ist

Additional material

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