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Year 7

What I do at school: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular

Learning outcomes

I can recognise the infinitive of a verb and can form the 3rd person singular from the infinitive in the context of school activities.

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

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New
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Year 7

What I do at school: infinitives, present tense 3rd person singular

Learning outcomes

I can recognise the infinitive of a verb and can form the 3rd person singular from the infinitive in the context of school activities.

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. The infinitive of a verb is the form listed in the dictionary. In German, it usually ends in 'en'.
  3. The short form of the verb (3rd person singular) is used to talk about 'he' or 'she'.
  4. Remove 'en' from the infinitive and add a 't' for the 3rd person singular of most verbs.
  5. German has one present tense. English has two present tenses, e.g., 'er macht' can mean 'he does' or 'he is doing'.

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’.

For an active lesson, students could indicate whether a word contain long/short [o] by standing up or remaining seated when the teacher says the word aloud.
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Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match these German words to their English meanings.
Correct Answer:das Wasser,water
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water

Correct Answer:wahr,true
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true

Correct Answer:die Welt,world
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world

Correct Answer:sein,to be, being
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to be, being

Correct Answer:haben,to have, having
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to have, having

Correct Answer:der Freund,friend
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friend

Q2.
When are German vowels short?
when a single consonant follows a vowel, e.g., [a] in 'Tag'
Correct answer: when more than one consonant follows a vowel, e.g., [a] in 'Wasser'
when there is a double vowel, e.g., [e] in 'Kaffee'
Q3.
Match these forms of the verb 'sein' (to be, being) to their English equivalents.
Correct Answer:ich bin,I am
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I am

Correct Answer:du bist,you are
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you are

Correct Answer:er ist,he is
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he is

Correct Answer:sie ist,she is
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she is

Correct Answer:Mia ist,Mia is
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Mia is

Q4.
Match these forms of the verb 'haben' (to have, having) to their English equivalents.
Correct Answer:ich habe,I have
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I have

Correct Answer:du hast,you have
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you have

Correct Answer:er hat,he has
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he has

Correct Answer:sie hat,she has
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she has

Correct Answer:Wolfgang hat,Wolfgang has
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Wolfgang has

Q5.
Translate the following sentence into English: 'Mein Freund hat ein Haustier.'
Correct Answer: My friend has a pet., my friend has a pet, 'My friend has a pet.', 'My friend has a pet'
Q6.
Which word completes the following question? ' es warm oder kalt heute?'
Correct Answer: ist, Ist

5 Questions

Q1.
Which of these words contain a long [o]?
Kopf
Correct answer: Wo?
offen
Correct answer: holen
Q2.
Which of these words are infinitives?
redet
Correct answer: spielen
schreibt
Correct answer: lernen
Correct answer: sein
Q3.
Match these German phrases to their English translations.
Correct Answer:auf Deutsch schreiben,to write in German
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to write in German

Correct Answer:mit Freunden reden,to talk with friends
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to talk with friends

Correct Answer:im Klassenzimmer sein,to be in the classroom
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to be in the classroom

Correct Answer:in der Schule lernen,to learn in school
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to learn in school

Correct Answer:eine Aufgabe machen,to do a task
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to do a task

Correct Answer:im Unterricht sein,to be in lessons
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to be in lessons

Q4.
To form the verb stem in German, remove __________ from the infinitive.
Correct answer: -en
-t
nothing
Q5.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'He is playing guitar.'
Correct Answer: Er spielt Gitarre., Er spielt Gitarre, 'Er spielt Gitarre.', 'Er spielt Gitarre'

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