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Year 7

Improve your lifestyle: modal verbs 'müssen', 'dürfen', 'wollen' + infinitive

Learning outcomes

I can recognise how modal verbs are used to express what people want, must or can do, in positive and negative statements.

I can pronounce [ü].

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New
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Year 7

Improve your lifestyle: modal verbs 'müssen', 'dürfen', 'wollen' + infinitive

Learning outcomes

I can recognise how modal verbs are used to express what people want, must or can do, in positive and negative statements.

I can pronounce [ü].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [ü] is pronounced long as in 'Tür' or short as in 'fünf'.
  2. Modal verbs express ideas of necessity or possibility (must, can, want).
  3. Modal verbs are used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, which goes to the end of the sentence (two-verb rule).
  4. Modal verbs include ‘müssen’ - to have to, must; ‘dürfen’ - to be allowed to, may; ‘wollen’ - to want to.
  5. Put 'nicht' before an infinitive ('Ich muss nicht singen') but forms of 'kein' before nouns ('Er will kein Buch lesen').

Keywords

  • [ü] - pronounced long as in 'Tür' or short as in 'fünf'

  • Modal verb - expresses ideas of necessity or possibility (must, can, want, allowed); used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive

  • Two-verb rule - position of the 2nd verb at the end of two-verb sentences, e.g., 'Ich will jetzt Obst essen.'

  • Nicht - 'not'

  • Keinen, keine, kein - 'not a'

Common misconception

The infinitive follows the conjugated verb, as in the English 'I can play'.

In German, the infinitive is placed at the end of a sentence when used with a modal verb, as in 'Ich kann spielen.'.


To help you plan your year 7 german lesson on: Improve your lifestyle: modal verbs 'müssen', 'dürfen', 'wollen' + infinitive, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

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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.
German vowels are short when ...
followed by a single consonant.
followed by the letter ‘h’.
there is a double vowel.
Correct answer: followed by more than one consonant.
they have an umlaut.
Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Computerspiel (nt),computer game
tick

computer game

Correct Answer:Farbe (f),colour
tick

colour

Correct Answer:Hose (f),trousers
tick

trousers

Correct Answer:Karte (f),ticket
tick

ticket

Correct Answer:Ort (m),place
tick

place

Correct Answer:Stück (nt),piece
tick

piece

Q3.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:bekommen,to get, getting
tick

to get, getting

Correct Answer:nehmen,to take, taking
tick

to take, taking

Correct Answer:reden,to talk, talking
tick

to talk, talking

Correct Answer:sehen,to see, seeing
tick

to see, seeing

Correct Answer:tragen,to wear, carry
tick

to wear, carry

Correct Answer:vergessen,to forget, forgetting
tick

to forget, forgetting

Q4.
Sort the words below into the correct order to form the following sentence: 'He speaks about his new band.'
1 - er
2 - spricht
3 - über
4 - seine
5 - neue
6 - Band
Q5.
Translate the following sentence into English: 'Mein Lieblingstier ist ein Hund.'
Correct Answer: My favourite animal is a dog.
Q6.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'Her parents listen to music.'
Correct Answer: Ihre Eltern hören Musik.

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these words have a long [ü] sound?
Correct answer: Brüder
fünf
türkisch
Correct answer: Frühling
Glück
Q2.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:gesund,healthy
tick

healthy

Correct Answer:glücklich,happy
tick

happy

Correct Answer:krank,ill, sick
tick

ill, sick

Correct Answer:ruhig,quiet, calm
tick

quiet, calm

Correct Answer:traurig,sad
tick

sad

Q3.
Sort the words below into the correct order to form the following sentence: 'You can read a book.'
1 - du
2 - kannst
3 - ein
4 - Buch
5 - lesen
Q4.
'Ich muss nicht schwimmen.'. Choose the correct translation.
I don't want to swim.
I must not swim.
I am not allowed to swim.
Correct answer: I don't have to swim.
I can't swim.
Q5.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'He is not allowed to cook.'
Correct Answer: Er darf nicht kochen.
Q6.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'I don't want a biscuit.'
Correct Answer: Ich will keinen Keks.

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