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Year 8 - German

Party plans: separable verbs, placement and position verbs, 'während'

A party: separable verbs

Unit Summary

This unit introduces separable verbs, teaching pupils how to manipulate these in sentences in short form and infinitive, with two verb structures and with 'nicht'. Word order 1 and 3 are revisited with the conjunctions 'denn and 'während'. Pupils learn to distinguish placement and position verbs.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use separable and placement verbs to understand and talk about party plans.

Key Notes

  • Separable verbs are made up of a prefix and a main verb, e.g., 'stattfinden' - 'to take place'.
  • We must remember the separable prefix, especially when English equivalents are single verbs, e.g. 'anfangen' - to start.
  • Three placement verbs - 'stellen', 'setzen', 'legen' - describe putting something somewhere, and take the accusative.
  • When items are already in position, we use equivalent position verbs 'stehen', 'sitzen' and 'liegen'.
  • The word order 3 conjunction 'während' (while) is useful for referring to two things happening at the same time.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • separable verb: two-part verb with a prefix and a main verb, e.g., 'stattfinden'
  • placement verb: verb that describes putting something somewhere, and takes the accusative case
  • während: conjunction 'while' that triggers word order 3 (WO3), sending the verb to the end of the clause or sentence

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • German has one general verb meaning 'to put, putting'.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Separable verbs are made up of a prefix and a main verb, e.g., 'stattfinden' - 'to take place'. We must remember the separable prefix, especially when English equivalents are single verbs, e.g. 'anfangen' - to start.

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

two-part verb with a prefix and a main verb, e.g., 'stattfinden'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: German has one general verb meaning 'to put, putting'. Correction: German has three placement verbs that translate into English as 'to put, putting'. 'Stellen' - to make something stand (vertically), 'setzen' - to make something sit, 'legen' - to make something lay down (horizontally).

More Lessons In This Unit

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