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      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

      1. Mastering German phonics is essential for good understanding in listening, speaking and writing.
      2. Practising vocabulary in a range of ways helps with recall.
      3. The imperfect tense can be used to describe how things were in the past.
      4. '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

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), 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

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Which word means 'during'?

      da
      denn
      warum
      weil
      Correct answer: während

      Q2.
      'Hast du ein __________ Buch?'. Choose the correct missing word.

      weiterer
      weitere
      Correct answer: weiteres

      Q3.
      Match the prefixes to the correct verbs.

      Correct Answer:an,fangen
      Correct Answer:ein,kaufen
      Correct Answer:mit,bringen
      Correct Answer:statt,finden
      Correct Answer:vor,bereiten

      Q4.
      Order the words to say: 'I am arriving at 9 o'clock.'

      1 - ich
      2 - komme
      3 - um
      4 - neun
      5 - Uhr
      6 - an

      Q5.
      Write in English: 'Meine Katze ist lustig.'

      Correct Answer: my cat is funny

      Q6.
      Write in German: 'When is your birthday?'

      Correct Answer: Wann hast du Geburtstag, Wann ist dein Geburtstag

      4 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the words to the missing sounds.

      Correct Answer:[st],__ark
      Correct Answer:[z],__immer
      Correct Answer:[w],__etter
      Correct Answer:[ei],Fr__heit
      Correct Answer:[ie],L__be

      Q2.
      Match the German and English.

      Correct Answer:ich war,I was
      Correct Answer:ich hatte,I had
      Correct Answer:er, sie, es war,he, she, it was
      Correct Answer:er, sie, es hatte,he, she, it had

      Q3.
      Match the sentences to the correct missing words.

      Correct Answer:gab,In der Stadtmitte __________ es einen Markt.
      Correct Answer:hatte,Das Hotel __________ kein Schwimmbad.
      Correct Answer:war,Die Stadt __________ schön und klein.

      Q4.
      Write in German: 'I had a car.'

      Correct Answer: ich hatte ein Auto, ich hatte einen Wagen

      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...