New
New
Year 11
AQA

Das Wattenmeer: present tense weak and strong verbs, reflexives

I can use a range of weak, strong and reflexive verbs in the present tense to understand texts about and to describe new places.

New
New
Year 11
AQA

Das Wattenmeer: present tense weak and strong verbs, reflexives

I can use a range of weak, strong and reflexive verbs in the present tense to understand texts about and to describe new places.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Weak verbs in the present tense follow a regular pattern of changes, like 'lernen'.
  2. Strong verbs in the present tense change their vowel in the verb stem in the 'du' and 'er, sie, es' forms.
  3. Strong verb stem changes in the present tense are: e to i, e to ie, and a to ä.
  4. Use reflexive pronouns with reflexive verbs. They often relate the action to the subject of the sentence.
  5. Some verbs have a different meaning when they are used as reflexive verbs, e.g., ‘anziehen’ and ‘sich anziehen’.

Keywords

  • Weak verb - a verb that follows a regular pattern of changes

  • Strong verb (present tense) - a verb which changes its vowel in the verb stem of some of its forms

  • Reflexive - describes an action where the subject and object of the verb are the same, used with reflexive pronouns

Common misconception

Verbs have the same meaning whether they are used reflexively or non-reflexively.

Some verbs have the same or similar meanings when used reflexively and non-reflexively, e.g. nennen, to call; sich nennen, to call oneself. However, some verbs completely change their meaning, e.g. anziehen, to attract; sich anziehen, to get dressed.


To help you plan your year 11 German lesson on: Das Wattenmeer: present tense weak and strong verbs, reflexives, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

As a follow-on to Task A1, and to consolidate the new vocabulary, students could make up their own true/false statements about a place they are familiar with, or based on a photo, for their peers to answer.
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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.
The verb 'stellen' can mean ...
Correct answer: to place
Correct answer: to put
Correct answer: to set
to steal
to sell
Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Ausflug (m),excursion, trip

excursion, trip

Correct Answer:Berg (m),mountain

mountain

Correct Answer:Küste (f),coast

coast

Correct Answer:Gegenteil (nt),opposite

opposite

Correct Answer:Rechnung (f),bill, calcuation, invoice

bill, calcuation, invoice

Correct Answer:Schiff (m),ship

ship

Q3.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:aufführen,to perform, performing

to perform, performing

Correct Answer:aufnehmen,to take in, record, include

to take in, record, include

Correct Answer:aufregen,to excite, upset, annoy

to excite, upset, annoy

Correct Answer:auftreten,to appear, occur, perform

to appear, occur, perform

Correct Answer:abnehmen,to lose weight, decrease, reduce

to lose weight, decrease, reduce

Correct Answer:zunehmen,to increase, put on weight

to increase, put on weight

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I am not spending any money today.'
1 - ich
2 - gebe
3 - heute
4 - kein
5 - Geld
6 - aus
Q5.
Write in English: 'Er reist in die Hauptstadt.'
Correct Answer: he travels to the capital city, he travels to the capital
Q6.
Write in German: 'You (plural, informal) eat in the café.'
Correct Answer: ihr esst im Café, ihr esst in dem Café, ihr esst im Cafe, ihr esst in dem Cafe

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
Match the pronouns and verbs.
Correct Answer:ich,mache

mache

Correct Answer:du,machst

machst

Correct Answer:sie, er, es, man, ihr,macht

macht

Correct Answer:wir, Sie, sie,machen

machen

Q2.
Which vowel changes occur in strong verb stems in the present tense 'du' and 'er, sie, es' forms?
Correct answer: e -> i
e -> ei
Correct answer: e -> ie
a -> o
Correct answer: a -> ä
Q3.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:anziehen,to attract

to attract

Correct Answer:sich anziehen,to get dressed

to get dressed

Correct Answer:verlieren,to lose

to lose

Correct Answer:sich verlieren,to get lost

to get lost

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I get dressed.'
1 - ich
2 - ziehe
3 - mich
4 - an
Q5.
Translate into German: 'He lies (himself) down in the sand.'
Correct Answer: Er legt sich in den Sand.

Additional material

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