What was it like then? Imperfect tense: 'war, hatte, gab, damals, früher'
Learning outcomes
I can confidently describe how things used to be, using a range of adjectives in the nominative and accusative cases.
I can recognise, say and write a range of words accurately using phonics rules I know.
What was it like then? Imperfect tense: 'war, hatte, gab, damals, früher'
Learning outcomes
I can confidently describe how things used to be, using a range of adjectives in the nominative and accusative cases.
I can recognise, say and write a range of words accurately using phonics rules I know.
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Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Knowing sound-symbol correspondences well helps develop reading and transcription skills.
- The nominative is used for articles and adjectives following ‘sein’, e.g., ‘das ist ein großes Schloss’.
- The accusative is used for articles and adjectives following most other verbs, e.g., 'Ich habe einen kleinen Hund'.
- The imperfect tense is used to describe the way things were in in the past.
Keywords
Nominative - form(s) used for the subject of a verb in a sentence, and before and after 'sein'
Accusative - form(s) used for the direct object in a sentence, after most verbs and some prepositions
Imperfect tense - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing; for example, 'war', 'hatte', 'es gab'
Common misconception
Adjectives work the same way in German as in English and do not change their spelling.
German adjectives change their ending when placed before the noun, depending on the case needed, and the gender of the noun they describe.
To help you plan your year 8 German lesson on: What was it like then? Imperfect tense: 'war, hatte, gab, damals, früher', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 German lesson on: What was it like then? Imperfect tense: 'war, hatte, gab, damals, früher', 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.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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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.
Equipment
A mini whiteboard and pen, together with pen and paper for making notes, would be useful, if available.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
there was, there were
had
was
near(by), close
deep
full
right / on the right
impossible
additional
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
because
during
why
back then
in former times, in the past