Lebenserfahrung: simple past with früher, gern, lieber, am liebsten, reflexive verbs
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use reflexive verbs and adverbs in the perfect and imperfect tenses in the context of studies and work.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- In two-verb structures, the reflexive pronoun normally comes after the first verb.
- In the perfect tense, it is more common to use the simple past versions of ‘haben’, ‘sein’, and ‘es gibt’.
- Use ‘früher’ in the perfect and imperfect tenses to mean ‘used to’.
- Use ‘gern’, ‘lieber’, ‘am liebsten’ in the perfect and imperfect tenses to talk about likes and preferences.
Keywords
Simple past - synonymous with the imperfect; German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing; for example, 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Perfect tense - German two-word past tense using either 'haben' or 'sein' with a past participle
Reflexive verb - verb used to indicate doing something to yourself, e.g., 'to wash yourself'
Common misconception
Verbs that are reflexive in English must be reflexive in German and vice versa.
Different verbs are reflexive in different languages. For example, 'sich erinnern' is not reflexive in English.
Teacher tip
Learning Cycle 2 contains Foundation and Higher options for the tasks. Task B1a could be made more challenging by changing each of the verb options to the infinitive.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the German with the English.
Q2.Match the German with the English.
Q3.Which word means 'prefer'?
Q4.Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'I stood by the window'.
Q5.Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'I had to jump high'.
Q6.Translate 'früher' in the following sentence: 'Früher war ich ärmer'.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the German with the English.
Q2.Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'We wanted to meet at the college'.
Q3.Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'I was very happy'.
Q4.Fill in the gap in the following sentence with a form of 'sein': 'Er ist gestern gestorben; ich traurig.'
Q5.Fill in the gap in the following sentence with an appropriate adverb: 'Ich habe gern mit meiner Oma gesprochen aber ich habe mein eigenes Ding gemacht.'
Q6.What did the person in the following sentence most prefer doing? 'Ich habe gern Erklärungen gelesen, ich habe lieber mein Abitur gemacht, und am liebsten bin ich Arbeitgeber geworden.'
To help you plan your 10 German lesson on: Lebenserfahrung: simple past with früher, gern, lieber, am liebsten, reflexive verbs, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 German lesson on: Lebenserfahrung: simple past with früher, gern, lieber, am liebsten, reflexive verbs, 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: Tolle Lebenserfahrungen unit, dive into the full secondary German curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.