New
New
Year 11
AQA

Die Umwelt: word order with questions, questions with wo-compounds

I can use wo-compounds and the correct word order in questions in an interview to learn more about the environment.

New
New
Year 11
AQA

Die Umwelt: word order with questions, questions with wo-compounds

I can use wo-compounds and the correct word order in questions in an interview to learn more about the environment.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Closed questions where the answer is yes/no are formed by inverting the subject and verb.
  2. Open questions, which seek more information than yes/no, start with a question word followed by the verb then subject.
  3. Use wo- and wor- prefixes with prepositions to ask questions. Prepositions do not stand alone at the end of a question.
  4. Many verbs take prepositions and require a wo-compound when asking questions.

Keywords

  • Closed question - question formed by inverting subject and verb where the answer is yes/no

  • Open question - question starting with a wh- word that has more information in the answer than yes/no

  • Preposition - word that is used before a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun, connecting it to another word

  • Wo-, wor- - prefix added to prepositions to ask questions

Common misconception

All questions in German invert the subject and verb. Apart from that the word order is the same as English.

Subject and verb are inverted, but word order differs from English for a verb with a preposition - 'What are you talking about?'. In German, a preposition never ends a question. Use 'wo(r)' + preposition to start the question - 'Worüber redest du?'.


To help you plan your year 11 German lesson on: Die Umwelt: word order with questions, questions with wo-compounds, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Wo-compounds are Higher Tier grammar only. Learning Cycle 3 includes a short pairwork activity on forming questions with wo-compounds. It can be used or adapted for this or any other theme or context.
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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.
Match the German words to their English meanings.
Correct Answer:Sand,sand

sand

Correct Answer:Toilette,toilet

toilet

Correct Answer:Leser,reader

reader

Correct Answer:Feuer,fire

fire

Correct Answer:Schluss,end

end

Correct Answer:Schrifsteller,writer

writer

Q2.
Match each German adjective to its English meaning.
Correct Answer:lanweilig,boring

boring

Correct Answer:modern,modern

modern

Correct Answer:durchschnittlich,average

average

Correct Answer:generell,general

general

Q3.
Which of these prepositions is always followed by the accusative case?
mit
zu
Correct answer: durch
nach
Q4.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence with the correct form of 'the': 'Ich spiele gern mit Leser.'
Correct Answer: dem
Q5.
Match the prepositions to the case they use.
Correct Answer:aus, bei, mit, nach, von, zu,always dative

always dative

Correct Answer:durch, für, gegen, um,alwasy accusative

alwasy accusative

Correct Answer:an, auf, in, über, unter, vor, hinter,accusative or dative depending on if there is movement

accusative or dative depending on if there is movement

Q6.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence with the correct da-compound (e.g., 'dafür', 'darauf', 'daran') to replace the noun: 'Ich liebe die Umwelt. Ich interessiere mich .'
Correct Answer: dafür, dafuer

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these is an open question?
Interessierst du dich für die Umwelt?
Hoffst du auf eine Lösung?
Correct answer: Wofür interessierst du dich?
Redest du über das Klima?
Q2.
Which of these are correctly formed questions?
Was du machst?
Correct answer: Machst du das?
Du machst was?
Correct answer: Was machst du?
Q3.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence with the correct wo-compound (you are asking about an inanimate thing - 'die Umwelt'): ' interessierst du dich?'
Correct Answer: wofür, wofuer
Q4.
Put the words below in the correct order to form a proper German open question.
1 - worauf
2 - hoffst
3 - du
Q5.
Match the demonstrative pronouns to their English meanings.
Correct Answer:derjenige,the one (e.g., Leser)

the one (e.g., Leser)

Correct Answer:diejenige,the one (e.g., Lösung)

the one (e.g., Lösung)

Correct Answer:dasjenige,the one (e.g., Blog)

the one (e.g., Blog)

Q6.
Translate the following sentence into German, using 'davor': 'I warned him about it.' (The 'it' is referring to fire – 'das Feuer'.)
Correct Answer: Ich habe ihn davor gewarnt, Ich warnte ihn davor

Additional material

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