Die Brüder Grimm: plural nouns, weak masculine nouns
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can form the plurals of a range of German nouns and explore their use in the context of learning about 'die Brüder Grimm'.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Not all nouns form their plural in the same way, but there are helpful patterns we can learn.
- Some nouns add an umlaut to the vowel in their plural form, e.g., 'Bäume'. Pay attention to the change in pronunciation.
- Some masculine nouns referring to people and weak masculine nouns form their plural by adding '-(e)n'.
- Plural nouns add '-n' in their dative plural forms, e.g., 'den Brüdern'.
- 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.
Teacher tip
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.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word is a synonym for 'Raum'?
Q2.Match the German and English.
Q3.Match the German and English.
Q4.Match the German and English.
Q5.Write in English: 'es tut mir Leid'.
Q6.Write in German: 'I don't care'.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which statements are correct?
Q2.Which plural nouns are correct?
Q3.Which nouns are definitely in the dative case?
Q4.Which of these are weak masculine plural nouns?
Q5.Write the German word for 'trees'.
Q6.Write in German: 'with the children'.
To help you plan your 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...
To help you plan your 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.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 German lessons from the Popular culture: Kulturszene unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.