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Year 7

School activities: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular

Learning outcomes

I can read, talk and write about activities that someone does at school using the 3rd person singular.

I can pronounce the long and short [o] correctly.

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New
New
Year 7

School activities: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular

Learning outcomes

I can read, talk and write about activities that someone does at school using the 3rd person singular.

I can pronounce the long and short [o] correctly.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [o] can be either short (followed by 2 consonants) or long (followed by a single consonant, double vowel or 'h').
  2. Remove 'en' from the infinitive to create the verb stem and add 't' for the 3rd person singular of most verbs in German.
  3. Use 'er' for he and 'sie' for she with the 3rd person singular of the verb.
  4. If the verb stem ends in –d or –t, an –e is added so that you can hear the verb ending –t.

Keywords

  • [o] - pronounced as in Wo?' or 'Kopf'

  • Infinitive - the dictionary form of a verb

  • 3rd person singular - the short form of a verb, used to say what 'he/she' does or is doing

Common misconception

The present continuous, e.g., ‘He is doing’, is translated as ‘Er ist machen’.

There is only one present tense in German. ‘Er macht’ = ‘He does / He is doing’.

Task B4 lends itself to the use of mini-whiteboards for quick assessment of students' learning.
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Licence

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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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the German below to the correct English translations.
Correct Answer:das Haustier,pet
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pet

Correct Answer:der Lehrer,teacher
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teacher

Correct Answer:die Welt,world
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world

Correct Answer:ich habe,I have
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I have

Correct Answer:wahr,true
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true

Correct Answer:Nicht wahr?,Isn't it?
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Isn't it?

Q2.
What is the infinitive?
Correct answer: the form of a verb found in the dictionary
the form of a verb that says who or what is doing an action
the form of a verb with no ending attached
Q3.
Which words contain a long [o]?
Correct answer: wohnen
Correct answer: ohne
Correct answer: holen
Kopf
wollen
Q4.
Which of the following words are in the 3rd person singular?
machen
rede
Correct answer: spielt
Correct answer: schreibt
lernen
Q5.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'Er in der Schule.' (He learns at school.)
Correct Answer: lernt
Q6.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence: '__________ es kalt oder warm heute?' (Is it cold or warm today?)
Correct answer: Ist
Hat
Wer

5 Questions

Q1.
Match these German phrases to their English translations.
Correct Answer:die Aufgabe machen,to do the task
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to do the task

Correct Answer:Deutsch lernen,to learn German
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to learn German

Correct Answer:im Unterricht schreiben,to write in lessons
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to write in lessons

Correct Answer:in der Schule sein,to be in the school
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to be in the school

Correct Answer:mit Freunden spielen,to play with friends
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to play with friends

Correct Answer:eine Flasche Wasser haben,to have a bottle of water
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to have a bottle of water

Q2.
Which words have a short [o]?
wo
Correct answer: Kopf
Correct answer: wollen
Million
Correct answer: kommen
Q3.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'She plays guitar.'
Correct Answer: Sie spielt Gitarre., 'Sie spielt Gitarre.'
Q4.
What happens if a verb stem ends in '-d' or '-t'?
Correct answer: an '-e' is added to the verb stem to aid pronunciation.
an '-e' is added to the infinitive to aid pronunciation.
a '-t' is added to the verb stem to aid pronunciation.
Q5.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'He is talking with friends.'
Correct Answer: Er redet mit Freunden., 'Er redet mit Freunden.'

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