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Year 7

Ask about families: possessives 'mein', 'dein', 'sein', 'ihr' (nominative)

Learning outcomes

I can use possessive adjectives in questions and answers to talk and write about my friends and family.

I can differentiate between [ei] and [ie] when listening.

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New
New
Year 7

Ask about families: possessives 'mein', 'dein', 'sein', 'ihr' (nominative)

Learning outcomes

I can use possessive adjectives in questions and answers to talk and write about my friends and family.

I can differentiate between [ei] and [ie] when listening.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [ei] is pronounced as in 'frei', like English 'eye'. [ie] is pronounced as in 'Liebe', like English 'ee'.
  2. Possessive adjectives show who possesses something: ‘mein’ (my), ‘dein’ (your), ‘ihr’ (her), ‘sein’ (his).
  3. Possessive adjectives agree with the noun they are describing, i.e., they need to be the same gender.
  4. Form closed questions by inverting the subject and verb in a statement. Add a question word before for an open question.
  5. Add the prefix 'Lieblings-' to a noun to mean 'favourite'; for example, ‘mein Lieblingsobst’.

Keywords

  • [ei] - pronounced as in 'frei'

  • [ie] - pronounced as in 'Liebe'

  • Possessive adjective - a word used to show who something belongs to, e.g., 'my'

  • Open question - a question starting with a wh- word that seeks more information than just yes or no

  • Closed question - a question that can be answered with yes or no

Common misconception

Don't change the possessive pronoun used in a question when you give your answer.

If a question is addressed to you (i.e., uses a form of 'dein', as in 'Was ist dein Lieblingssport?'), respond with the correct form of 'mein' in the answer.


To help you plan your year 7 german lesson on: Ask about families: possessives 'mein', 'dein', 'sein', 'ihr' (nominative), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Conduct Task C3 in the style of a class survey. Students can practise using the third person singular of the present tense in a written summary of their survey. Audio feedback is provided on the media clips page for Task C1.
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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.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:Hund (m),dog
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dog

Correct Answer:Katze (f),cat
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cat

Correct Answer:Sprache (f),language
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language

Correct Answer:sprechen,to speak, speaking
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to speak, speaking

Correct Answer:Geschwister (pl),siblings, brothers and sisters
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siblings, brothers and sisters

Correct Answer:Eltern (pl),parents
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parents

Q2.
Match each word to its category.
Correct Answer:machen (to do, make),verb
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verb

Correct Answer:interessant (interesting),adjective
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adjective

Correct Answer:zuerst (firstly),adverb
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adverb

Correct Answer:Schwester (f) (sister),noun
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noun

Correct Answer:mein (my),possessive adjective
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possessive adjective

Correct Answer:Wann? (When?),question word
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question word

Q3.
What is a closed question?
Correct answer: a question which can be answered with yes or no
a question which seeks more information than a simple yes or no
a question that begins with a question word
Correct answer: a 'do you ... ?' or 'are you ... ?' question
Q4.
Which of these words are the odd ones out in terms of their sounds?
langweilig
dreizehn
Correct answer: schließlich
dein
Correct answer: hier
Q5.
Translate the following sentence into English: 'Wie heißt deine Schwester?'
Correct Answer: What is your sister called?, What is your sister's name?
Q6.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence with the correct word for 'his': ' Kind spielt im Garten.'
Correct Answer: Sein

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the German and English.
Correct Answer:seine Mutter,his mother
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his mother

Correct Answer:mein Vater,my father
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my father

Correct Answer:ihre Geschwister,her siblings
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her siblings

Correct Answer:deine Schwester,your sister
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your sister

Correct Answer:mein Bruder,my brother
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my brother

Correct Answer:ihre Mutter,her mother
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her mother

Q2.
Which sound does [ei] correspond to in English?
Correct answer: 'eye' as in 'eyes'
'ee' as in 'three'
'i' as in 'bit'
'a' as in 'made'
'e' as in 'tea'
Q3.
Put the words in the correct order to form an open question.
1 - was
2 - ist
3 - dein
4 - Lieblingsfilm
5 - ?
Q4.
What is the correct translation of 'her favourite animal'?
mein Lieblingstier
dein Lieblingstier
sein Lieblingstier
Correct answer: ihr Lieblingstier
Q5.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'My favourite colour is white.'
Correct Answer: Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist weiß., Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist weiss
Q6.
Translate the following sentence into German: 'Her favourite day is Monday.'
Correct Answer: Ihr Lieblingstag ist Montag.

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