Places and people: now or then? Imperfect tense: 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can compare the past with now using the imperfect tense words ‘war’, ‘hatte’ and ‘es gab’.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Mastering German phonics is essential for good understanding in listening, speaking and writing.
- Practising vocabulary in a range of ways helps with recall.
- The imperfect tense can be used to describe how things were in the past.
- 'War' means 'was'; 'es gab' means 'there was, were'; 'hatte' means 'had'.
Keywords
SSC - stands for sound-symbol correspondence - the relationship between letters and their sound
Imperfect tense - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Common misconception
'Was' and 'had' have different forms in German for 'ich' and 'er, sie'.
In German, 'war' means 'was', 'hatte' means 'had'. Both forms remain unchanged for 'ich' and 'er, sie', like in English.
Teacher tip
The context of the lesson is Austria. Teachers may wish to exploit this further by sourcing videos of the country and its major cities. Videos are readily from several online sources.
Equipment
A mini whiteboard and pen, together with pen and paper for making notes, would be useful, if available.
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Some of our videos, including non-English language videos, do not have captions.
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word means 'during'?
Q2.'Hast du ein __________ Buch?'. Choose the correct missing word.
Q3.Match the prefixes to the correct verbs.
fangen
kaufen
bringen
finden
bereiten
Q4.Order the words to say: 'I am arriving at 9 o'clock.'
Q5.Write in English: 'Meine Katze ist lustig.'
Q6.Write in German: 'When is your birthday?'
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Match the words to the missing sounds.
__ark
__immer
__etter
Fr__heit
L__be
Q2.Match the German and English.
I was
I had
he, she, it was
he, she, it had
Q3.Match the sentences to the correct missing words.
In der Stadtmitte __________ es einen Markt.
Das Hotel __________ kein Schwimmbad.
Die Stadt __________ schön und klein.
Q4.Write in German: 'I had a car.'
To help you plan your 8 German lesson on: Places and people: now or then? Imperfect tense: 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 German lesson on: Places and people: now or then? Imperfect tense: 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 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 Then and now: imperfect tense and comparatives unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.