Neu in Deutschland: 'hatte', 'war', 'es gab', imperfect tense singular & plural
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use the perfect and imperfect tenses to understand the recent experiences of a young person arriving to live and study in Germany.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Use the imperfect forms 'hatte', 'war', 'gab' to talk about the past instead of the perfect tense.
- Imperfect weak verbs are formed like 'lernen'.
- Imperfect strong verbs take the same endings as 'liegen'.
Keywords
Perfect tense - German two-word past tense using either 'haben' or 'sein' with a past participle
Imperfect tense - German single-word past tense, also called the simple past
Common misconception
The imperfect tense is never used in spoken German.
The most common irregular verbs 'haben' and 'sein' are very common in speaking, along with 'es gab'. Other verbs in the imperfect mainly appear in written texts.
Teacher tip
Learning Cycle 1 is suitable for both Foundation and Higher tiers. Learning Cycle 2 covers the imperfect tense of verbs at Higher tier.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The English words below are cognates or near-cognates in German. Which ones change spelling in German?
Q2.Match the German and English.
to believe, believing
to answer, answering
to be called, being called
really, very, whole, all the
just, fair
same, right away, equally
Q3.Which of the following sentences are in the perfect tense?
Q4.Match the imperfect forms of 'sein' and 'haben' to the correct English meanings.
(I, he, she, it) was
(you all) were
(you) had
(you all) had
(we, they) were
(we, they) had
Q5.'Es gibt' means __________. 'Es gab' is the imperfect tense form, meaning __________. For example: 'Es __________ im Winter Schnee in den Alpen, aber letztes Jahr __________ es nicht genug!'
Q6.'Hatte', 'war' and 'es gab' are frequently used in writing and speaking in German to describe past events. Other forms of the imperfect tense are mostly used in .
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of the following statements about the German imperfect tense are true?
Q2.Sort the imperfect verb forms below into the following order: (1) I (and he/she/it) (2) you (singular), (3) we, (4) you (plural).
Q3.Irregular verb stems in the imperfect tense need to be learnt, but the past participle and the imperfect stem are often similar. Match the German to the English simple past equivalent.
I brought
I knew
I decided
I moved
I thought
Q4.Match the German and English.
lay
let, allowed
came
sat
went
started
Q5.What is a 'Wohngemeinschaft' or 'WG'?
Q6.Write the following sentence in German: 'I had a book.'
To help you plan your 10 German lesson on: Neu in Deutschland: 'hatte', 'war', 'es gab', imperfect tense singular & plural, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 German lesson on: Neu in Deutschland: 'hatte', 'war', 'es gab', imperfect tense singular & plural, 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 My personal world: Identitätsprobleme unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.