Year 7 - German
Christmas traditions: 'sein' 3rd person singular and plural, plurals - +(e)n
Christmas: singular and plural nouns
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit introduces pupils to 4 rules for forming plural nouns in German and provides opportunities for practice with the use of 'es gibt'. It will also teach pupils how to use plurals with 'sein' 3rd person plural, and 'sie' meaning 'they'. They practise sound-symbol correspondence [ü] and [ä].
Lesson Summary
You will learn to recognise and use German plural rule 3 - add -(e)n to feminine nouns - and say what things are like using 'ist' and 'sind'.
Key Notes
- 'Sein' means 'to be, being', 'ist' (is) is the 3rd person singular and 'sind' is the 3rd person plural.
- For all plural nouns, the German word for 'the' is 'die'.
- For noun plural rule 3, most feminine nouns add '-n' or '-en'.
- Feminine nouns ending in -el, -en or -er almost always add -n or -en in the plural form too.
Vocabulary To Learn
- sein: to be, being
- ist: 3rd person singular of 'sein', 'is'
- sind: 3rd person plural form of 'sein', 'are'
- plural: more than one
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Feminine noun plurals are the same as masculine and neuter noun plurals.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
'Sein' means 'to be, being', 'ist' (is) is the 3rd person singular and 'sind' is the 3rd person plural. For all plural nouns, the German word for 'the' is 'die'.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'sein'
to be, being. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: Feminine noun plurals are the same as masculine and neuter noun plurals. Correction: Most feminine nouns add either an -e or an -en to the end of the noun in its plural form. Feminine nouns ending in -el or -er also add an -n unlike in the masculine and neuter form where nouns ending in these letters don't tend to change.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Christmas traditions: singular and plural nouns Study Guide
- Christmas: 'Es gibt' with plurals, the song 'O Tannenbaum' Study Guide
- Christmas: definite article 'die', plurals with umlaut +e, no change -el/-en/-er Study Guide
- How many? Ask questions and give statements with plural nouns Study Guide
- Numbers 1-12: plurals adding umlaut + -er Study Guide
- Saying what something is like: subject pronouns 'er', 'sie', 'es' for 'it' Study Guide
- What you and others have and what it is like: subject pronoun 'sie' for 'they' Study Guide
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