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Lesson 4 of 6
  • Year 8

Describe others: adjective agreement (accusative), female person nouns with -in

Learning outcomes

I can identify adjective endings in reading, apply them when describing others and when translating text from English into German.

I can confidently pronounce the different [r] sounds.

Lesson 4 of 6
New
New
  • Year 8

Describe others: adjective agreement (accusative), female person nouns with -in

Learning outcomes

I can identify adjective endings in reading, apply them when describing others and when translating text from English into German.

I can confidently pronounce the different [r] sounds.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [r] needs practice to distinguish its pronunciation depending on its within-word position and surrounding letters.
  2. Feminine words for jobs often add -in to the masculine noun, often resulting in the mid-word consonantal [r] sound.
  3. When adjectives come before nouns, they have different endings depending on the noun gender, type of article and case.
  4. Singular accusative adjective endings for indefinite articles are: -en (masculine), -e (feminine) and -es (neuter).
  5. For accusative plural nouns after 'keine', the adjective ending is -en; without an article the accusative ending is -e.

Keywords

  • [r] - sound-symbol correspondence (SSC) pronounced as in 'reden' and 'Uhr'

  • Adjective agreement - when the ending of an adjective matches the noun it describes in gender and number

  • Accusative - form(s) used for the object or 'receiver' of the action of the verb

Common misconception

The [r] sound in German is always the same, regardless of where it appears within the word.

German [r] can be pronounced in different ways. [r] is a gentle ‘rolling’ vibration pronounced from the back of the throat, if [r] is at a syllable start, after a consonant or between two vowels. [r] is a gentle ‘ah’ sound after a long vowel.


To help you plan your year 8 German lesson on: Describe others: adjective agreement (accusative), female person nouns with -in, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Phonics and vocabulary can be easily and usefully combined in 'register routines', whereby pupils are given a sound-symbol correspondence, e.g., [r], and have to respond to the register with a German word containing that sound. Stipulating no repeated words keeps pupils listening to others, too.
Teacher tip

Equipment

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.
'Sie hat __________ nichts gesagt.'. Choose the correct missing word.

nie
Correct answer: bisher
über
viel
sehr

Q2.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:Auge (nt),eye

eye

Correct Answer:Augen (ntpl),eyes

eyes

Correct Answer:Haar (nt),hair

hair

Correct Answer:Haare (ntpl),hair(s)

hair(s)

Correct Answer:Mund (m),mouth

mouth

Correct Answer:Nase (f),nose

nose

Q3.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:gegessen,ate, (have, has) eaten

ate, (have, has) eaten

Correct Answer:gelegen,lay, (have, has) lain

lay, (have, has) lain

Correct Answer:gesprochen,spoke, (have, has) spoken

spoke, (have, has) spoken

Correct Answer:geschrieben,wrote, (have, has) written

wrote, (have, has) written

Correct Answer:gesungen,sang, (have, has) sung

sang, (have, has) sung

Correct Answer:getroffen,(have, has) met

(have, has) met

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'As a child I spent time in France.'

1 - als
2 - Kind
3 - habe
4 - ich
5 - Zeit
6 - in Frankreich
7 - verbracht

Q5.
Write in English: 'Ich verbringe meinen Sommer in Spanien.'

Correct Answer: I spend my summer in Spain

Q6.
Write in German: 'He has a similar face.'

Correct Answer: Er hat ein ähnliches Gesicht, Er hat ein aehnliches Gesicht

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
When is the German [r] a gentle 'ah' sound?

at a syllable start
after a consonant
between two vowels
Correct answer: after a long vowel

Q2.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:Schauspielerin (f),actor, actress

actor, actress

Correct Answer:Schülerin (f),student

student

Correct Answer:Lehrerin (f),teacher

teacher

Correct Answer:Sängerin (f),singer

singer

Correct Answer:Sportlerin (f),sportsperson, sportswoman

sportsperson, sportswoman

Correct Answer:Musikerin (f),musician

musician

Q3.
Match the articles to the correct noun and adjective pairs.

Correct Answer:einen,dünnen Mund

dünnen Mund

Correct Answer:eine,breite Nase

breite Nase

Correct Answer:ein,rundes Gesicht

rundes Gesicht

Correct Answer:keine,langen Haare

langen Haare

Q4.
'Wir kaufen __________ Schuhe.'. Choose the correct adjective.

neu
neuen
Correct answer: neue
neues

Q5.
Write in German: 'I sing a good song.'

Correct Answer: Ich singe ein gutes Lied