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Year 7

Classroom conversations: German alphabet

I can ask how to say or spell a word, and I can use the German alphabet to spell.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 7

Classroom conversations: German alphabet

I can ask how to say or spell a word, and I can use the German alphabet to spell.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. 'Wie sagt man das?' means 'How do you say that?'.
  2. 'Wie schreibt man das?' means 'How do you write that?'.
  3. Knowing the German alphabet allows you to spell words out loud and write them down.

Keywords

  • Wie? - how?

  • Wissen - irregular verb meaning 'to know' something

  • Weiß - 1st person singular of 'wissen', meaning '(I) know'

Common misconception

'J' is pronounced the same in both English and German.

In German, 'j' is pronounced like 'yot' and sounds like the English 'y'. The German letter 'y' is called 'oopsilon'. It sounds like the German 'j' at the start of borrowed words, e.g., 'Yoga', but like a short ü 'oo' in others, e.g. 'das System'.

Encourage learners to add some of the trickier alphabet sounds to their Wortschatz, e.g. J / V / W / Y as well as the additional four letters, Ä, Ö, Ü, ß.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on
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6 Questions

Q1.
Which words contain the [ei] sound?
Correct answer: frei
Correct answer: drei
die
Correct answer: ein
Q2.
Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
Correct Answer:rosarot,pink
tick

pink

Correct Answer:blau,blue
tick

blue

Correct Answer:gelb,yellow
tick

yellow

Correct Answer:rot,red
tick

red

Q3.
True or false? You use 'nicht' with nouns.
Correct Answer: False
Q4.
Which sentence means 'I am not a colour.'?
Ich bin keine Flasche.
Ich bin eine Farbe.
Du bist keine Farbe.
Correct answer: Ich bin keine Farbe.
Q5.
Match each subject below to its form of 'sein'.
Correct Answer:du,bist
tick

bist

Correct Answer:ich,bin
tick

bin

Correct Answer:das,ist
tick

ist

Q6.
Put the words below in the correct order to make a question in German.
1 - ist
2 - das
3 - klar

6 Questions

Q1.
How many extra letters does the German alphabet have compared to the English alphabet?
0
1
2
3
Correct answer: 4
Q2.
Match the German words or sentences below to the correct English translations.
Correct Answer:Wie sagt man?,How do you say?
tick

How do you say?

Correct Answer:Wie schreibt man?,How do you write?
tick

How do you write?

Correct Answer:wissen,to know, knowing
tick

to know, knowing

Correct Answer:Ich weiß nicht.,I don't know.
tick

I don't know.

Correct Answer:Ist das klar?,Is that clear?
tick

Is that clear?

Correct Answer:Das ist nicht klar.,That is not clear.
tick

That is not clear.

Q3.
Match the German words or phrases below to the correct English translations.
Correct Answer:der Tisch,table
tick

table

Correct Answer:ein Tisch,a table
tick

a table

Correct Answer:kein Tisch,no, not a table
tick

no, not a table

Correct Answer:die Nummer,number
tick

number

Correct Answer:eine Nummer,a number
tick

a number

Correct Answer:keine Nummer,no, not a number
tick

no, not a number

Q4.
Match the German verbs below to the correct English translations.
Correct Answer:sagt,says, tells
tick

says, tells

Correct Answer:sagen,to say, to tell
tick

to say, to tell

Correct Answer:ist,is
tick

is

Correct Answer:sein,to be, being
tick

to be, being

Correct Answer:bist,are
tick

are

Q5.
Wie sagt man 'but'?
oder
schwarz
Correct answer: aber
Q6.
Wie sagt man 'goodbye' auf Deutsch?
Correct Answer: Tschüs, Tschüss, 'Tschüs', Tschues, Tschuess

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