Year 11 - German
Rechte: perfect tense, simple past, 'seit' vs 'vor'
People and lifestyle: Menschenrechte
Study Hub
Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit revisits known grammar with an emphasis on simple past and perfect tense, 'obwohl' with single verb structures, word order 2, and 'zu..' clauses following verbs (for example planen, hoffen). New vocabulary is added to support the discussion of human rights.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use the simple past and perfect tenses and 'seit' and 'vor' to understand the historical context and recent changes relating to international human rights.
Key Notes
- The perfect tense uses the present tense of 'sein' or 'haben' plus a past participle, and is used in speech and writing.
- The single-verb simple past or imperfect tense in German is used most often to narrate past events in writing.
- 'Seit', with dative and present tense, expresses an unfinished action started in the past. It can mean 'since' or 'for'.
- 'Vor' + length of time is used with past tense to say how long ago something happened. Use the dative case.
- These structures provide a framework for discussing the history and developments in international human rights.
Vocabulary To Learn
- perfect tense: a past tense formed with the present tense of 'sein' or 'haben' and a past participle
- simple past or imperfect tense: German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'
- seit: preposition meaning 'since' or 'for' followed by the dative case
- vor: preposition meaning 'ago' followed by the dative case
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- The perfect tense is used only in speaking and the simple past only in writing.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
The perfect tense uses the present tense of 'sein' or 'haben' plus a past participle, and is used in speech and writing. The single-verb simple past or imperfect tense in German is used most often to narrate past events in writing.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'perfect tense'
a past tense formed with the present tense of 'sein' or 'haben' and a past participle. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: The perfect tense is used only in speaking and the simple past only in writing. Correction: The perfect tense can be used in informal writing and to describe a past event which has relevance to the present. The simple past is normally for writing, but 'war', 'hatte', 'gab' and modal verbs ('musste', 'wollte') are commonly used in speech.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 11 German guide library.