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Year 10
AQA

Matthias Maurer: yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses

Learning outcomes

I can form yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses to ask questions about famous German speakers.

I can recognise, write and pronounce [-er] and [-r-] with male and female people nouns.

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New
New
Year 10
AQA

Matthias Maurer: yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses

Learning outcomes

I can form yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses to ask questions about famous German speakers.

I can recognise, write and pronounce [-er] and [-r-] with male and female people nouns.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [er] at the end of a word is unstressed and sounds like the English ‘uh’.
  2. The [r] in female people nouns is consonantal and is rolled at the back of the throat.
  3. Change verbs to male person nouns by adding –er to a verb stem.
  4. To form a yes/no question in the perfect tense, swap the subject and the verb and send the past participle to the end.
  5. To form a yes/no question in the imperfect tense, swap the subject and the verb.

Keywords

  • Male agent noun - a noun for someone who performs the action of a verb, usually ending in -er; for example, worker - ‘Arbeiter’

  • Imperfect tense - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing; for example, 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'

  • Perfect tense - German two-word past tense using either 'haben' or 'sein' with a past participle

Common misconception

Asking yes/no questions in the past is much more complicated than the present tense, as the rules are different. You need to translate 'did'.

The English 'did' isn't needed. Swap subject and verb for a yes/no question. 'Er sprach' (imperfect) becomes 'Sprach er?'. In the perfect tense, the past participle stays at the end of the sentence: 'Er hat gesprochen' - 'Hat er gesprochen?'.

Task B1 has two options. Option 1 (imperfect tense) is included in the video. Option 2 (perfect) slides and worksheets are available as required. For yes/no questions, give plentifuly opportunities to practise simple yes/no questions in different tenses.
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Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
Correct Answer:anfangen,to start, starting
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to start, starting

Correct Answer:schlafen,to sleep, sleeping
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to sleep, sleeping

Correct Answer:verbessern,to improve, improving
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to improve, improving

Correct Answer:probieren,to try, trying
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to try, trying

Correct Answer:sich konzentrieren auf,to concentrate on, concentrating on
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to concentrate on, concentrating on

Correct Answer:aufgeben,to give up, giving up
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to give up, giving up

Q2.
Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
Correct Answer:university,die Universität
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die Universität

Correct Answer:to write to,schreiben an
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schreiben an

Correct Answer:(back) then,damals
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damals

Correct Answer:result,das Ergebnis
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das Ergebnis

Correct Answer:knoweldge,die Kenntnis
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die Kenntnis

Correct Answer:understanding,das Verständnis
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das Verständnis

Q3.
Past participles of -ieren verbs always end in .
Correct Answer: iert, -iert, 'iert', '-iert'
Q4.
Which of these statements correctly describe how to form a yes/no question in German?
Write the sentence as a statement and add a question mark at the end.
Correct answer: In the present tense, put the verb first, then the subject.
Correct answer: In the perfect tense, put 'haben' or 'sein' first, then the subject.
Put the question word first, then the verb, then the subject.
Q5.
Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'Did you answer the question?'
1 - hast
2 - du
3 - die
4 - Frage
5 - beantwortet
6 - ?
Q6.
Which verbs do not have 'ge-' at the beginning of their past participles?
Correct answer: verbs beginning with 'be-'
Correct answer: verbs beginning with 'er-'
Correct answer: verbs beginning with 'ver-'
verbs beginning with a vowel
Correct answer: verbs ending with '-ieren'

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the subjects to the correct imperfect verb forms.
Correct Answer:du,hattest
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hattest

Correct Answer:wir, sie (plural),hatten
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hatten

Correct Answer:ihr,hattet
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hattet

Correct Answer:ich, er, sie, es,hatte
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hatte

Q2.
Sort the words below into the correct order to complete the following sentence: 'Du __________ sehr müde, als wir im Kino __________. Der Film __________ spannend und ihr __________ glücklich.'
1 - warst
2 - waren
3 - war
4 - wart
Q3.
Sort the words below into the correct order to complete the following sentence: Male __________ nouns add __________ to the __________ stem. Then add __________ for the feminine form of the noun.
1 - agent
2 - -er
3 - verb
4 - -in
Q4.
Match these German male agent nouns to their English meanings.
Correct Answer:Beobachter,observer
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observer

Correct Answer:Denker,thinker
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thinker

Correct Answer:Entdecker,discoverer
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discoverer

Correct Answer:Unterstützer,supporter
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supporter

Correct Answer:Entwickler,developer
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developer

Correct Answer:Helfer,helper
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helper

Q5.
Which of the below are correctly formed yes/no questions about Matthias Maurer?
Correct answer: Hat er Naturwissenschaften studiert?
Wie hat er Kinder inspiriert?
Correct answer: Hatte er Follower auf Instagram?
Sein Leben war spannend?
Wann wurde er geboren?
Q6.
'Ich __________ (read) das Buch, als ich im Urlaub __________ (was). Ich _________ (lay) am Strand aber meine Mutter __________ (sat) im Schatten. Dann __________ (wrote) ich dir einen Brief.'
1 - las
2 - war
3 - lag
4 - saß
5 - schrieb

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