New
New
Year 8

What I prefer to do and why: 'weil', 'denn' and 'lieber'

Learning outcomes

I can understand about and write what I love and prefer doing, extending my sentences to give reasons for my preferences.

I can recognise and pronounce [sch], [sp] and [st] when reading aloud.

New
New
Year 8

What I prefer to do and why: 'weil', 'denn' and 'lieber'

Learning outcomes

I can understand about and write what I love and prefer doing, extending my sentences to give reasons for my preferences.

I can recognise and pronounce [sch], [sp] and [st] when reading aloud.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The 's' in [sp] and [st] sounds like [sch] at the start of a word, as part of a compound noun or after a prefix.
  2. The adverb 'lieber' means 'rather', and is used to say 'prefer' with a verb. The verb ‘lieben’ means ‘to love, loving’.
  3. The conjunctions 'denn' and 'weil' both mean 'because'.
  4. The verb follows the subject when using 'denn'. This is standard word order or word order 1 (WO1).
  5. The verb moves to the end of the clause when using 'weil'. This is word order 3 (WO3).

Keywords

  • Lieber - adverb meaning ‘rather’, used after a verb to mean ‘prefer’

  • Denn - conjunction meaning 'because' after which word order 1 (WO1) follows

  • Weil - conjunction meaning 'because' followed by word order 3 (WO3)

Common misconception

Word order in German remains the same as English after ‘weil’ ('because').

When using ‘weil’ to give a reason, the verb moves to the end of the clause, e.g., ‘ich spiele gern Fußball, weil es Spaß macht'.


To help you plan your year 8 German lesson on: What I prefer to do and why: 'weil', 'denn' and 'lieber', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Use transition moments, when handing out resources or changing activities, to ask opinion-based questions in German (e.g., 'Siehst du lieber Filme oder liest du lieber Bücher?', 'Warum?'). These low-stakes moments are ideal for practising preferences and justifications, helping pupils build fluency.
Teacher tip

Equipment

A mini whiteboard and pen, together with pen and paper for taking notes, would be useful, if available.

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 can mean 'even'?
häufig
mehr
Correct answer: noch
nach
ach
Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:schreiben,to write, writing

to write, writing

Correct Answer:lernen,to learn, learning

to learn, learning

Correct Answer:gehen,to go, going

to go, going

Correct Answer:laufen,to run, running

to run, running

Correct Answer:sehen,to see, watch

to see, watch

Correct Answer:wandern,to hike, to go walking

to hike, to go walking

Q3.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Buch (nt),book

book

Correct Answer:Bild (nt),picture

picture

Correct Answer:Film (m),film

film

Correct Answer:Konzert (nt),concert

concert

Correct Answer:Nudeln (fpl),pasta

pasta

Correct Answer:Berg (m),mountain

mountain

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'an expensive flat and a safe house'.
1 - eine
2 - teuere
3 - Wohnung
4 - und
5 - ein
6 - sicheres
7 - Haus
Q5.
Write in English: 'the food was cheap'.
Correct Answer: das Essen war billig
Q6.
Write in German: 'water is better than milk'.
Correct Answer: Wasser ist besser als Milch

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
Match the words to the missing sounds.
Correct Answer:___necke,[sch]

[sch]

Correct Answer:___inne,[sp]

[sp]

Correct Answer:___ift,[st]

[st]

Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Ich schwimme gern.,I like swimming.

I like swimming.

Correct Answer:Ich schwimme lieber.,I prefer swimming.

I prefer swimming.

Correct Answer:Ich liebe Schwimmen.,I love swimming.

I love swimming.

Q3.
Order the words to say: 'I prefer dancing because it is great.'
1 - ich
2 - tanze
3 - lieber
4 - denn
5 - es
6 - ist
7 - toll
Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I prefer reading because it is interesting.'
1 - ich
2 - lese
3 - lieber
4 - weil
5 - es
6 - interessant
7 - ist
Q5.
Write in German: 'I prefer eating pizza to bread'.
Correct Answer: ich esse lieber Pizza als Brot

Additional material

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