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Year 10 - German

Englisch lernen: 'haben', present tense weak verbs, negation with nicht and kein

People and lifestyle: sprichst du Deutsch?

Unit Summary

This unit revisits the present tense of strong verbs, negation with nicht and kein, compound and plural nouns in the context of learning a new language. Pupils learn to distinguish between wissen, kennen and können with opportunities to apply all these in listening, reading, speaking and writing.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use present tense weak verbs, 'nicht' and 'kein' to talk about learning a language.

Key Notes

  • Nominative case is for nouns with sein, heißen and werden; accusative case is for object nouns with all other verbs.
  • The verb 'haben' is irregular.
  • Present tense weak verbs are formed like 'lernen'.
  • 'Nicht' negates before the definite article (meaning 'not the'), adjectives, possessives, proper nouns and after verbs.
  • For negation before nouns, 'kein' replaces the indefinite article to mean 'not a', 'no'.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • nominative: the case used for the subject of a sentence
  • accusative: the case used for the object of a sentence
  • nicht: the adverb 'not', which negates the definite article 'the'
  • kein: the negative determiner 'not a', 'no', that replaces the indefinite article 'a/an' before nouns

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • 'Nicht' means 'not' when negating in all German sentences.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.

Nominative case is for nouns with sein, heißen and werden; accusative case is for object nouns with all other verbs. The verb 'haben' is irregular.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'nominative'

the case used for the subject of a sentence. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: 'Nicht' means 'not' when negating in all German sentences. Correction: 'Nicht' negates in many sentences, but 'kein' replaces the indefinite article 'a/an' to negate nouns. For example, 'I have no car', and 'I haven't got a car' are both 'Ich habe kein Auto' in German.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 10 German guide library.