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Das deutsche Schulsystem: adjective agreement

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can add agreements to adjectives to provide details when talking about the German school system.

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Adjective agreement occurs when adjectives precede nouns.
  2. Adjective endings depend on case, gender and number.
  3. [-d] sounds like 'Hemd'.
  4. [-d-] sounds like 'Kleider'.
  5. Listening needs close reading of questions, attention to detail and vocabulary knowledge for gap-fill questions.

Keywords

  • Adjective agreement - when the ending of an adjective preceding a noun matches the noun in gender, case and number

  • [-d] - sound-symbol correspondence (SSC) pronounced as in ‘Hemd’

  • [-d-] - SSC pronounced as in 'Kleider'

Common misconception

Adjectives in German don't have endings.

Adjectives have endings when they precede a noun. Compare 'der Hund ist groß' with 'der große Hund ist schwarz'. Adjective endings agree in case, gender and number with nouns. There are useful tables that can be learned to support correct usage.

Teacher tip

After learning cycle 2, students could be encouraged to describe their own school uniform and give their opinions. After learning cycle 3, students may wish to do their own comparisons between the German and English school systems.

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.
Which preposition is used with the verb 'sich erinnern'?

Correct answer: an
auf
für
um
vor

Q2.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:individuell,individual

individual

Correct Answer:ledig,single

single

Correct Answer:reich,rich

rich

Correct Answer:ungewöhnlich,unusual

unusual

Correct Answer:verheiratet,married

married

Correct Answer:wahr,true

true

Q3.
Match the German and English.

Correct Answer:Art (f),type, kind

type, kind

Correct Answer:Hose (f),trousers

trousers

Correct Answer:Hochzeit (f),wedding

wedding

Correct Answer:Uniform (f),uniform

uniform

Correct Answer:Vorteil (m),advantage

advantage

Correct Answer:zivile Partnerschaft (f),civil partnership

civil partnership

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I think that my hat is comfortable.'

1 - ich
2 - meine
3 - dass
4 - mein
5 - Hut
6 - bequem
7 - ist

Q5.
Write in English: 'Meine Tante hat ein Kleid.'

Correct Answer: My aunt has a dress., My auntie has a dress., My aunty has a dress.

Q6.
Write in German: 'My uncle tells the truth.'

Correct Answer: Mein Onkel sagt die Wahrheit.

6 Questions

Q1.
In which of these words is [d] pronounced like the English [t]?

Kleider
behandeln
Gedanke
Correct answer: Hemd
Correct answer: und

Q2.
Write the German verb which means 'repeating a school year'.

Correct Answer: sitzenbleiben

Q3.
'Das T-shirt ist __________'. Choose the correct missing word.

Correct answer: blau
blaue
blaues
blauer
blauen

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I wear a red jacket and a red skirt.'

1 - ich trage
2 - eine rote
3 - Jacke
4 - und
5 - einen roten
6 - Rock

Q5.
'Ich kaufe die Schuhen'. Fill in the gap with the correct form of the word for 'cheap'.

Correct Answer: billigen

Q6.
Write in German: 'He has a small dog.'

Correct Answer: Er hat einen kleinen Hund.

To help you plan your 10 German lesson on: Das deutsche Schulsystem: adjective agreement, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...