New
New
Year 11
AQA

Die Brüder Grimm: plural nouns, weak masculine nouns

Learning outcomes

I can form the plurals of a range of German nouns and explore their use in the context of learning about 'die Brüder Grimm'.

I can correctly pronounce [au], [äu] and [eu].

New
New
Year 11
AQA

Die Brüder Grimm: plural nouns, weak masculine nouns

Learning outcomes

I can form the plurals of a range of German nouns and explore their use in the context of learning about 'die Brüder Grimm'.

I can correctly pronounce [au], [äu] and [eu].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Not all nouns form their plural in the same way, but there are helpful patterns we can learn.
  2. Some nouns add an umlaut to the vowel in their plural form, e.g., 'Bäume'. Pay attention to the change in pronunciation.
  3. Some masculine nouns referring to people and weak masculine nouns form their plural by adding '-(e)n'.
  4. Plural nouns add '-n' in their dative plural forms, e.g., 'den Brüdern'.
  5. Die Brüder Grimm published a world-famous collection of fairy tales in 1812, which was called 'Kinder- und Hausmärchen'.

Keywords

  • Plural - more than one

  • Weak masculine noun - a small set of masculine nouns that add '-(e)n' in all forms apart from the nominative singular

Common misconception

All nouns ending '-n' must be in the dative case.

The definite article 'den' shows the dative plural form as well as the '-n' added to the end of the dative plural. However, a number of nouns form their plural by adding '-(e)n' and are not in the dative case.


To help you plan your year 11 German lesson on: Die Brüder Grimm: plural nouns, weak masculine nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

All the plural forms, including dative plural nouns are Foundation Tier; weak masculine nouns are Higher-tier grammar. Many of the German-language fairy tales collected by the Brüder Grimm are freely available online to use with students.
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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.
Which word is a synonym for 'Raum'?
Freund
Geld
Geschichte
Zeit
Correct answer: Zimmer
Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:abnehmen,to decrease, decreasing

to decrease, decreasing

Correct Answer:aufnehmen,to take in, include

to take in, include

Correct Answer:aufwachsen,to grow up, growing up

to grow up, growing up

Correct Answer:kriegen,to get, receive

to get, receive

Correct Answer:verbieten,to forbid, prohibit

to forbid, prohibit

Correct Answer:zunehmen,to increase, increasing

to increase, increasing

Q3.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Gast (m),guest

guest

Correct Answer:Heft (nt),exercise book, notebook

exercise book, notebook

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

bill, calculation, invoice

Correct Answer:Traum (m),dream

dream

Correct Answer:Unfall (m),accident

accident

Correct Answer:Wind (m),wind

wind

Q4.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:gearbeitet,worked

worked

Correct Answer:gefeiert,celebrated

celebrated

Correct Answer:gelernt,learned

learned

Correct Answer:gesammelt,collected

collected

Correct Answer:gestorben,died

died

Correct Answer:geschrieben,wrote

wrote

Q5.
Write in English: 'es tut mir Leid'.
Correct Answer: I'm sorry, I am sorry, sorry
Q6.
Write in German: 'I don't care'.
Correct Answer: es ist mir egal, das ist mir egal

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which statements are correct?
The Brothers Grimm wrote famous fairy tales.
Correct answer: The Brothers Grimm were called Jacob and Wilhelm.
The Brothers Grimm both died in 1812.
Correct answer: The Brothers Grimm were politically active.
Correct answer: The Brothers Grimm worked as linguists.
Q2.
Which plural nouns are correct?
Tischen
Correct answer: Mäuse
Systems
Correct answer: Ereignisse
Leserinne
Q3.
Which nouns are definitely in the dative case?
Betten
Correct answer: Brüdern
Correct answer: Körpern
Sekunden
Correct answer: Häusern
Q4.
Which of these are weak masculine plural nouns?
der Franzose
Correct answer: die Franzosen
die Änderungen
der Nachbar
Correct answer: die Nachbarn
Q5.
Write the German word for 'trees'.
Correct Answer: Bäume, die Bäume, Baeume, die Baeume
Q6.
Write in German: 'with the children'.
Correct Answer: mit den Kindern

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