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Year 8

This summer: present vs past, perfect tense weak verbs 1st person singular

Learning outcomes

I can use past and present tenses to understand about holiday experiences in German.

I can recognise, write and pronounce [ei] and [ie] correctly.

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New
New
Year 8

This summer: present vs past, perfect tense weak verbs 1st person singular

Learning outcomes

I can use past and present tenses to understand about holiday experiences in German.

I can recognise, write and pronounce [ei] and [ie] correctly.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [ei] and [ie] are tricky German sounds and need to be read, written and pronounced correctly.
  2. To understand what you did in the past, use the present tense of ‘haben’ and a past participle.
  3. The perfect tense in German can be translated in two ways in English: 'have done' and 'did'.
  4. The English meaning we use often depends on time adverbs.

Keywords

  • [ei] - sound-symbol correspondence pronounced as in 'frei'

  • [ie] - sound-symbol correspondence pronounced as in 'Liebe'

  • Past participle - the form of a verb used in the perfect tense; for example gespielt (played)

  • Perfect tense - the German past tense which translates 2 English past tenses; for example, I did and I have done.

Common misconception

The perfect tense in German is often only translated as 'have done'.

Give clear examples of both translations 'have done' and 'did' with appropriate time adverbials. Emphasise the role of time adverbials in helping to decide on the correct English translation.

Pupils benefit from quick checks on mini whiteboards to identify the correct translation into English and then from pair work oral translation of English sentences into German to build familiarity with the 'ich' form of the German perfect tense.
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Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
How do you say 'I have' in German?
Ich haben.
Ich hast.
Correct answer: Ich habe.
Ich hat.
Q2.
Match each of these verbs to their English translations.
Correct Answer:machen,to do, to make
tick

to do, to make

Correct Answer:legen,to lay, put
tick

to lay, put

Correct Answer:wohnen,to live
tick

to live

Correct Answer:hören,to hear
tick

to hear

Correct Answer:beginnen,to begin
tick

to begin

Correct Answer:gewinnen,to win
tick

to win

Q3.
To find the stem of a German verb, take the infinitive (e.g., 'machen') and remove the .
Correct Answer: en, -en, - en
Q4.
Match each of these words or phrases to their English translations.
Correct Answer:schon,already
tick

already

Correct Answer:immer,always
tick

always

Correct Answer:nie,never
tick

never

Correct Answer:letzten Monat,last month
tick

last month

Correct Answer:letztes Jahr,last year
tick

last year

Correct Answer:letzte Woche,last week
tick

last week

Q5.
How do you say 'I learn' in German?
Correct Answer: Ich lerne, Ich lerne., ich lerne
Q6.
Which of the following words include the letters which make the sound in the English word 'I'?
Wien
das Ziel
Correct answer: Freiburg
schließlich
Correct answer: Kleidung

6 Questions

Q1.
Match each of these German words to their English translations.
Correct Answer:die Kleidung,clothing
tick

clothing

Correct Answer:der Spaß,fun
tick

fun

Correct Answer:deshalb,therefore, for that reason
tick

therefore, for that reason

Correct Answer:erleben,to experience
tick

to experience

Correct Answer:kaufen,to buy
tick

to buy

Correct Answer:der Punkt,point, dot, full stop
tick

point, dot, full stop

Q2.
Put the verbs below in the correct order to complete the following sentence: 'Ich __________ eine Bootsfahrt __________ und dann __________ ich Kleidung __________.'
1 - habe
2 - gemacht
3 - habe
4 - gekauft
Q3.
Which of these verbs do not require 'ge' in front of the past participle?
wohnen
Correct answer: erleben
spielen
kochen
Correct answer: besuchen
Q4.
Which of the following time adverbials express general or unspecified times?
letzten Monat
Correct answer: nie
gestern
Correct answer: schon
diesen Sommer
Q5.
When translating the German perfect tense into English, which of these rules are correct?
Use simple past tense for all events that are finished.
Use present perfect for specified times that are finished.
Correct answer: Use simple past for specified times that are finished.
Correct answer: Use either simple past or present perfect for unspecified general times.
Q6.
Which tense would you use to translate the German sentence 'Ich habe letzten Sommer Wien besucht' into English?
Correct Answer: simple past, the simple past

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