New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Traditionen in der Schweiz: abstract adjectival neuter nouns

Learning outcomes

I can apply my linguistic skills to cope with longer texts, and I am confident in the use of abstract adjectival nouns, in the context of Swiss traditions.

I can apply my understanding of sound-symbol correspondences to a dictation task.

New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Traditionen in der Schweiz: abstract adjectival neuter nouns

Learning outcomes

I can apply my linguistic skills to cope with longer texts, and I am confident in the use of abstract adjectival nouns, in the context of Swiss traditions.

I can apply my understanding of sound-symbol correspondences to a dictation task.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Use your linguistic knowledge to break down language in longer texts and aid your understanding.
  2. Abstract adjectival nouns refer to abstract ideas, such as 'important', 'interesting'.
  3. After 'etwas', capitalise the adjective and add '-es' to make a neuter abstract adjectival noun.
  4. After 'alles', capitalise the adjective and add '-e' to make a neuter abstract adjectival noun.
  5. Use dictation tasks to reinforce your understanding of sound-symbol correspondences.

Keywords

  • Abstract adjectival noun - noun that takes the same endings as an adjective, and refers to an abstract idea, e.g., 'etwas Interessantes'

  • Etwas - indefinite pronoun meaning ‘something’, often followed by an abstract adjectival noun

  • Alles - indefinite pronoun meaning ‘everything’, often followed by an abstract adjectival noun

Common misconception

Adjectival nouns do not require a capital letter because they come from adjectives.

Adjectival nouns require a capital letter, just like all nouns in German.


To help you plan your year 11 German lesson on: Traditionen in der Schweiz: abstract adjectival neuter nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage students to research other well-known Swiss traditions and crafts, such as chocolate-making and watchmaking.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word means 'indeed' or 'certainly'?
Correct answer: allerdings
kontrollieren
einerseits
andererseits
alles klar
Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:anhaben,to wear, have on

to wear, have on

Correct Answer:bezahlen,to pay, paying

to pay, paying

Correct Answer:probieren,to try, trying

to try, trying

Correct Answer:tragen,to wear, wearing

to wear, wearing

Correct Answer:kontrollieren,to check, control

to check, control

Correct Answer:arbeiten,to work, working

to work, working

Q3.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Eintritt (m),entry, admission

entry, admission

Correct Answer:Höhe (f),height

height

Correct Answer:Gutschein (m),voucher

voucher

Correct Answer:Möbel (nt),furniture

furniture

Correct Answer:Tier (nt),animal

animal

Correct Answer:Zeitpunkt (m),moment, point in time

moment, point in time

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'the strange book and the strange films'.
1 - das
2 - komische
3 - Buch
4 - und
5 - die
6 - komischen
7 - Filme
Q5.
Write in English: 'das wäre unglaublich'.
Correct Answer: that would be unbelievable, it would be unbelievable
Q6.
Write in German: 'the street was narrow'.
Correct Answer: die Straße war eng, die Straße war schmal, die Strasse war eng, die Strasse war schmal

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Match the words and missing sounds.
Correct Answer:bl__d,[ö]

[ö]

Correct Answer:fr__her,[ü]

[ü]

Correct Answer:vollst__ndig,[ä]

[ä]

Correct Answer:Ger__sch,[äu]

[äu]

Correct Answer:gen__,[au]

[au]

Correct Answer:r__chen,[ie]

[ie]

Q2.
Which word is an adjectival noun?
das schöne
Correct answer: das Schöne
schön
schöne
schönes
Q3.
Write in German: 'something typical'.
Correct Answer: etwas Typisches
Q4.
Write in German: 'everything creative'.
Correct Answer: alles Kreative

Additional material

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