Rechte: perfect tense, simple past, 'seit' vs 'vor'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use the simple past and perfect tenses and 'seit' and 'vor' to understand the historical context and recent changes relating to international human rights.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- The perfect tense uses the present tense of 'sein' or 'haben' plus a past participle, and is used in speech and writing.
- The single-verb simple past or imperfect tense in German is used most often to narrate past events in writing.
- 'Seit', with dative and present tense, expresses an unfinished action started in the past. It can mean ‘since’ or ‘for'.
- 'Vor' + length of time is used with past tense to say how long ago something happened. Use the dative case.
- These structures provide a framework for discussing the history and developments in international human rights.
Keywords
Perfect tense - a past tense formed with the present tense of 'sein' or 'haben' and a past participle
Simple past or imperfect tense - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'
Seit - preposition meaning 'since' or 'for' followed by the dative case
Vor - preposition meaning ‘ago’ followed by the dative case
Common misconception
The perfect tense is used only in speaking and the simple past only in writing.
The perfect tense can be used in informal writing and to describe a past event which has relevance to the present. The simple past is normally for writing, but 'war', 'hatte', 'gab' and modal verbs ('musste', 'wollte') are commonly used in speech.
Teacher tip
The vocabulary in Learning Cycle 1 includes Higher-tier vocabulary. Learning Cycle 2 includes the simple past for both Foundation and Higher tiers. Learning Cycle 3 includes Higher-tier grammar only, but the vocabulary and examples given on human rights would be of interest to all students.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the Vienna International Film Festival called in German?
Q2.Match the German and English.
(I, she, he, it) began
(I, she, he, it) went
(I, she, he, it) came
(I, she, he, it) ran
Q3.Match the German and English.
(German) federal state
quality
New Year's Eve
Easter
state, province (Switzerland)
landscape
Q4.Order the words to say: 'There was a lot of traffic after the carnival.'
Q5.Write in English: 'Ich brauche ein Zeichen.'
Q6.Write in German: 'The beginning was interesting.'
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Which statements apply to the imperfect tense?
Q2.Which verbs are commonly used in the imperfect tense in spoken German?
Q3.Write in English: 'seit vielen Wochen'.
Q4.Write in German: 'ten years ago'.
To help you plan your 11 German lesson on: Rechte: perfect tense, simple past, 'seit' vs 'vor', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 German lesson on: Rechte: perfect tense, simple past, 'seit' vs 'vor', 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 Lifestyle and wellbeing: Menschenrechte unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.