Choose exam board for KS4 Computer Science (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 English
Choose exam board for KS4 French
Choose exam board for KS4 Geography
Choose exam board for KS4 German
Choose exam board for KS4 History
Choose tier for KS4 Maths
Choose exam board for KS4 Music
Choose exam board for KS4 Physical education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Religious education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Spanish

      Es war toll! Perfect tense with 'sein', 'haben' and questions, inversion

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use word order 2 and form questions in the perfect tense in the context of interesting past experiences.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. To make a yes/no question in the perfect tense, swap the form of ‘sein’ or ‘haben’ with the subject.
      2. To ask an information question in the perfect tense, use a question word followed by ‘sein’ or ‘haben’ then the subject.
      3. In word order 2, invert the subject and verb.

      Keywords

      • Yes/no question - question formed by inverting subject and verb where the answer is yes/no

      • Information question - question starting with a wh- word that has more information in the answer than yes/no

      • Word order 2 - inverts the subject and verb in a sentence

      Common misconception

      I should use the same word order in German as in English.

      German word order is different from English word order. In word order 2, the subject and verb are inverted.

      Teacher tip

      Task A, Option 1, is for Higher pupils. Task A, Option 2, is for Foundation pupils. Starter quiz and exit quiz question 2 are Higher-only.

      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

      Loading...

      Some of our videos, including non-English language videos, do not have captions.

      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the German with the English.

      Correct Answer:der Blick,view
      Correct Answer:das Paar,couple
      Correct Answer:miteinander,with each other
      Correct Answer:wenigstens,at least
      Correct Answer:das Angebot,offer
      Correct Answer:ganz,whole, all the

      Q2.
      Match the German with the English.

      Correct Answer:am liebsten,most preferred, most preferably, most rather
      Correct Answer:sich beschäftigen mit,to be busy, deal with
      Correct Answer:genügen ,to be enough, sufficient
      Correct Answer:geschehen ,to happen, occur
      Correct Answer:der Bereich ,area, region
      Correct Answer:die Gesellschaft,company

      Q3.
      Match the question words in German and English.

      Correct Answer:wie,how
      Correct Answer:wann,when
      Correct Answer:wohin,where to
      Correct Answer:warum,why
      Correct Answer:was,what
      Correct Answer:mit wem,with whom

      Q4.
      Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following question into German: 'Why do you speak so quietly?'

      1 - warum
      2 - sprichst
      3 - du
      4 - so
      5 - leise

      Q5.
      Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following question into German: 'Does the dress fit well?'

      1 - passt
      2 - das
      3 - Kleid
      4 - gut

      Q6.
      Which word order does the following sentence use? 'Am meisten arbeite ich in meinem Kurs.'

      word order one (subject followed by verb)
      Correct answer: word order two (invert subject and verb)
      word order three (send the verb to the end)

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the German and the English.

      Correct Answer:gebrochen,broken
      Correct Answer:der Austausch,exchange
      Correct Answer:der Kurs,exchange rate
      Correct Answer:die Persönlichkeit,personality
      Correct Answer:täglich,daily
      Correct Answer:sofort,immediately

      Q2.
      Match the German and the English.

      Correct Answer:wieso?,why?
      Correct Answer:die Ahnung,suspicion, idea
      Correct Answer:die Erinnerung,memory
      Correct Answer:die Kreditkarte,credit card
      Correct Answer:der Nachtisch ,dessert
      Correct Answer:glücklicherweise ,fortunately

      Q3.
      Fill in the gap to translate the question 'Did you (singular, informal) ask questions during the introduction?' into German: ' bei der Vorstellung Fragen gestellt?'

      Correct Answer: Hast du

      Q4.
      Fill in the gap to translate the question 'Why did you (singular, informal) go to Italy immediately?' into German: ' sofort nach Italien gefahren?'

      Correct Answer: Warum bist du, Wieso bist du

      Q5.
      Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following question into German using word order two (inversion of subject and verb): 'Yesterday I saw a fat dog.'

      1 - gestern
      2 - habe
      3 - ich
      4 - einen
      5 - dicken
      6 - Hund
      7 - gesehen

      Q6.
      Sort the words below into the correct order to form a sentence in German. Use word order two to emphasise 'the point'.

      1 - den
      2 - Punkt
      3 - habe
      4 - ich
      5 - wieder
      6 - vergessen

      To help you plan your 10 German lesson on: Es war toll! Perfect tense with 'sein', 'haben' and questions, inversion, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...