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Year 7 - German

What you and others have and what it is like: subject pronoun 'sie' for 'they'

Christmas: singular and plural nouns

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 describe what you and others have, using the correct subject pronouns for 'it' and 'they', and you can understand a longer text on Christmas in Berlin.

Key Notes

  • [o] and [ö] need practice to distinguish between singular and plural forms of some nouns, e.g., 'Vogel' and 'Vögel'.
  • Masculine and neuter nouns ending in -el, -en and -er don't usually change in the plural form.
  • A few -el, -en and -er plurals do add an umlaut to 'a', 'o', and 'u', e.g., 'Vögel'.
  • To say 'they' in German, use 'sie' for all genders.
  • The subject pronoun 'sie' means both 'it' (feminine) and 'they'. The verb form tells us what is being talked about.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • [o]: pronounced short [o] as in 'Schottland' and long [o] as in 'Vogel'
  • [ö]: pronounced short [ö] as in 'zwölf' and long [ö] as in 'Vögel'
  • subject pronoun: represents the person, people or thing(s) doing the verb, e.g., I, we, they
  • sie: the subject pronoun plural 'they'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • 'Sie' always refer to feminine 'it' when used as a subject pronoun.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

[o] and [ö] need practice to distinguish between singular and plural forms of some nouns, e.g., 'Vogel' and 'Vögel'. Masculine and neuter nouns ending in -el, -en and -er don't usually change in the plural form.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. '[o]'

pronounced short [o] as in 'Schottland' and long [o] as in 'Vogel'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: 'Sie' always refer to feminine 'it' when used as a subject pronoun. Correction: 'Sie' means 'it' in the feminine form and 'they' in the plural form. 'Sie' is used for all plural forms.

More Lessons In This Unit

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