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Year 11 - German

Medizin früher und heute: 'es gibt' vs 'es gab', imperfect

Media and technology: Die weite Welt

Unit Summary

This unit consolidates known grammar with practice of modal verbs in present and past, reflexive verbs in two-verb structures, es gibt vs es gab and imperatives.(Sie, formal). Pupils also revise 'man' with verb to avoid the passive.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to understand the imperfect tense in the context of past medical developments and influential ideas, and you can contrast past and present using 'es gibt' and 'es gab'.

Key Notes

  • Weak verbs form the imperfect tense by adding these endings to the verb stem: -te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten.
  • Strong verbs have irregular stems in the imperfect tense, with vowel changes and endings: -, st, -, en, t, en.
  • The verbs 'sein', 'haben', modal verbs and 'es gab' are commonly used in spoken as well as written German.
  • Use 'es gibt' to mean 'there is, are' and 'es gab' to mean 'there was, were', followed by the accusative case.
  • Use 'es gibt' and 'es gab' to contrast present and past.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • imperfect tense: German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing
  • es gibt: means 'there is, there are' and is a general statement that something exists
  • es gab: means 'there was, there were', the past tense of 'es gibt'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • The imperfect tense is never used in spoken German.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Weak verbs form the imperfect tense by adding these endings to the verb stem: -te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten. Strong verbs have irregular stems in the imperfect tense, with vowel changes and endings: -, st, -, en, t, en.

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

German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: The imperfect tense is never used in spoken German. Correction: The irregular verbs 'haben' and 'sein', modal verbs and 'es gab' are all common in spoken German. Other verbs in the imperfect mainly appear in written texts.

More Lessons In This Unit

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