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Eine Nachricht: 'worum' and 'darum', genitive prepositions

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can use the compounds ‘darum’ and ‘worum’ and understand prepositions with the genitive in the context of sharing messages.

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Some verbs are followed by the preposition 'um' and the accusative case.
  2. The prefix 'wor-' can be added to 'um' to make a question, usually meaning 'what about' or 'around what'?
  3. The prefix 'dar-' can be added to 'um' to mean 'about it' or 'around it'.
  4. 'Darum' can also be a conjunction meaning 'therefore' or 'that's why'.
  5. Prepositions 'trotz', 'statt', 'während' and 'wegen' are followed by the genitive. Masculine and neuter nouns gain 's'.

Keywords

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

  • Da-, dar- - prefix added to prepositions to avoid repetition of the noun

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

  • Genitive - case used to indicate possession and after certain prepositions

Common misconception

'Darum' is a da-compound and its meaning is always directly related to the preposition 'um'.

'Darum' can be used as a da-compund, meaning 'around it' or 'about it' but it is also a conjunction meaning 'therefore' or 'that's why'.

Teacher tip

Encourage students to read their dialogues from Task B1b aloud. All the grammar structures in this lesson, with the exception of 'gehen um', are Higher Tier only, so teachers of Foundation-only classes might choose to cover the vocabulary in this lesson in a different way.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), 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

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:die Erdkunde,geography

geography

Correct Answer:die Biologie,biology

biology

Correct Answer:die Leichtathletik,athletics

athletics

Correct Answer:die Bibliothek,library

library

Correct Answer:der Eindruck,impression

impression

Correct Answer:der Bereich,area, region

area, region

Q2.
Match the infinitive to the preposition which can follow it.

Correct Answer:antworten,auf

auf

Correct Answer:arbeiten,an

an

Correct Answer:gehen,um

um

Correct Answer:kämpfen,für

für

Correct Answer:schützen,vor

vor

Q3.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:der, die, das größte,the biggest

the biggest

Correct Answer:der, die, das höchste,the highest

the highest

Correct Answer:der, die, das meiste,the most

the most

Correct Answer:der, die, das nächste,the next, nearest

the next, nearest

Correct Answer:der, die, das beste,the best

the best

Q4.
To form a wo-compond or a da-compound, add 'wo' or 'da' to ...

a noun.
a verb.
Correct answer: a preposition.
an adjective.
a direct object pronoun.

Q5.
Which are the dative definite articles?

der, die, das
den, die, das
Correct answer: dem, der, den
einen, eine, ein
einem, einer

Q6.
Which German preposition can mean 'around' or 'about'?

Correct Answer: um

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:bitten um,to ask for, request

to ask for, request

Correct Answer:gehen um,to be about

to be about

Correct Answer:sich sorgen um,to care, worry about

to care, worry about

Correct Answer:sich drehen um,to be about, revolve around

to be about, revolve around

Q2.
'Mia hat heute Basketball gespielt. Darum geht es in ihrer E-Mail.' Is 'darum' a da-compound or a conjunction here?

Correct answer: da-compound
conjunction

Q3.
Match the sentence halves.

Correct Answer:Worum geht,es in dem Buch?

es in dem Buch?

Correct Answer:Da steht ein Haus. Der Hund läuft,darum.

darum.

Correct Answer:Er bittet um,Hilfe.

Hilfe.

Correct Answer:Es geht,darum, dass die Kosten steigen.

darum, dass die Kosten steigen.

Correct Answer:Er macht Hausaufgaben. Darum,spielt er noch nicht.

spielt er noch nicht.

Q4.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:trotz,in spite of

in spite of

Correct Answer:statt,instead of

instead of

Correct Answer:während,during

during

Correct Answer:wegen,because of

because of

Q5.
Which of these definite articles are all in the genitive case?

dem, der, dem, den
der, die, das, die
den, die, das, die
Correct answer: des, der, des, der

Q6.
Translate the following into German: 'during the film'.

Correct Answer: während des Films

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