New
New
Year 9

The environment: wo- and da-compounds

I can form wo- and da-compounds in the context of helping the environment.

New
New
Year 9

The environment: wo- and da-compounds

I can form wo- and da-compounds in the context of helping the environment.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Da-compounds are used to replace and refer back to inanimate (non-living) nouns which have already been mentioned.
  2. Use wo-compounds to ask questions with prepositions. Place the prefix wo- + preposition at the start of the question.
  3. For animate things (people and animals), use an object pronoun instead of a da-compound to replace the noun.
  4. For ‘who’ questions with prepositions relating to animate nouns, use a form of ‘wer’, not a wo-compound.
  5. Use dar- and wor- for da- and wo-compounds with prepositions starting with a vowel.

Keywords

  • Da, dar- - prefix added to prepositions to replace an inanimate noun

  • Wo, wor- - prefix added to prepositions to ask questions

Common misconception

Form questions with prepositions in the same way as in English, by adding a preposition at the end, e.g., 'What is he interested in?'

German doesn't leave prepositions hanging at the end of questions like in English. Form questions by placing the prefix 'wo-' or 'wor-' before the preposition at the start of the question.


To help you plan your year 9 German lesson on: The environment: wo- and da-compounds, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For a less challenging version of Task A1a, place the English words in the correct gaps and ask students to translate into German.
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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.
When [r] comes after a long vowel or in -er, what sound does it make?

a strong rolling sound
Correct answer: a gentle 'ah' sound, almost disappearing
a sharp 'r' like in English 'red'

Q2.
Why does 'darüber' have the extra 'r' after 'da-'?

Correct answer: to make it sound better when the preposition starts with a vowel
to make it shorter
to change the meaning completely
da- compounds always start with 'dar'

Q3.
Which sentence correctly uses a verb with the right preposition?

Ich freue mich für das Wetter.
Correct answer: Ich freue mich auf das Wetter.
Ich freue mich vor das Wetter.
Ich freue mich an das Wetter.

Q4.
Match the German and the English.

Correct Answer:Blume (f),flower

flower

Correct Answer:Schutz (m),protection

protection

Correct Answer:Wetter (nt),weather

weather

Correct Answer:Erfolg (m),success

success

Correct Answer:Person (f),person

person

Correct Answer:Druck (m),pressure

pressure

Q5.
Put the words below in the correct order to say: 'I am interested in it.'

1 - ich
2 - interessiere
3 - mich
4 - dafür

Q6.
Fill in the missing word to complete the second sentence: 'Ich mag extrem schönes Wetter. Ich freue mich .'

Correct Answer: darauf

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
What is the correct German question for 'What are you looking forward to?'?

Correct answer: Worauf freust du dich?
Was freust du dich auf?
Was bist du freuen auf?
Auf wo freust du dich?

Q2.
Match each da-compound to its English meaning.

Correct Answer:dafür,for it

for it

Correct Answer:darauf,on it, to it

on it, to it

Correct Answer:darüber,about it

about it

Correct Answer:davor,before, in front of it

before, in front of it

Q3.
Put the words below in the correct order to say: 'I am finding out about it.'

1 - ich
2 - informiere
3 - mich
4 - darüber

Q4.
Fill in the gap using the correct object pronoun to replace the noun in the following sentence: 'Ich kenne diese Person. Ich kenne gut.'

Correct Answer: sie

Q5.
Write in German: 'What is he interested in?'.

Correct Answer: Wofür interessiert er sich, Wofuer interessiert er sich

Additional material

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