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Year 11 - German

Salzburg, Österreich: modal verbs present vs imperfect, role-play (Edexcel)

Travel and Tourism: Wiederholung: Menschen und Orte

Unit Summary

This unit continues the focus on known grammar and vocabulary, with a spotlight on negation, adjective agreement, compound nouns, word pattern rules and read aloud practice of sound-symbol correspondences.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use the present and imperfect tenses of modal verbs and can take part in a role-play scenario.

Key Notes

  • Modal verbs are always followed by a 2nd infinitive verb which normally comes at the end of the sentence.
  • Modal verbs are irregular in the first, 2nd and 3rd person singular, but regular in plural forms.
  • Modal verbs are mostly used in the imperfect tense when they describe past events. Remove any umlauts in the imperfect.
  • The imperfect tense endings for modal verbs (-te, -test, -te, -ten, -tet, -ten) are the same as for weak verbs.
  • When performing a role-play, answers should be a short phrase or sentence. Do not add unnecessary detail.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • modal verb: verb of necessity or possibility (must, can, want) used with a 2nd verb in infinitive, which goes to the end
  • imperfect tense: German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g. 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • I should include as much detail as possible in role-play answers.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Modal verbs are always followed by a 2nd infinitive verb which normally comes at the end of the sentence. Modal verbs are irregular in the first, 2nd and 3rd person singular, but regular in plural forms.

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

verb of necessity or possibility (must, can, want) used with a 2nd verb in infinitive, which goes to the end. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: I should include as much detail as possible in role-play answers. Correction: When performing a role-play, answers should contain one verb and be concise. You should not add unnecessary detail.

More Lessons In This Unit

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