Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 8 German Guides

Year 8 - German

Ask for spelling: the alphabet, nouns, articles and the accusative case

An exchange: present tense, 'haben' and 'sein', formal 'Sie' vs 'du', cases

Unit Summary

This unit explores the use of the formal 'Sie' (you) vs the informal 'du'. It equips pupils with the knowledge to structure richer sentences, using infinitive clauses with 'zu', and how to apply their previous knowledge of question forms, gender and cases to add new words to their vocabulary.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to ask how to spell a word in German and distinguish between nominative articles with 'sein' and accusative articles with other verbs, and use them in speaking and writing.

Key Notes

  • Ask 'Wie schreibt man das?' to ask how to spell a word in German.
  • 'Wie heißt ...?' or 'Wie heißen ...?' (What is it/are they called?) are alternatives to 'Wie sagt man ...?'.
  • Definite articles - 'der, die, das, die' - and indefinite articles - 'ein, eine, ein' - are used before nouns.
  • The accusative case shows us the direct object in a sentence.
  • Masculine articles change in the accusative case ('den; einen'). Feminine, neuter and plural articles do not change.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • heißen: verb meaning 'to be called'
  • article: word such as 'the' (der, die, das) or 'a' (ein, eine, ein) used before a noun
  • accusative case: case used for the direct object in a sentence, after most verbs and some prepositions

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • The German alphabet has the same number of letters (26) as the English alphabet.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Ask 'Wie schreibt man das?' to ask how to spell a word in German. 'Wie heißt ...?' or 'Wie heißen ...?' (What is it/are they called?) are alternatives to 'Wie sagt man ...?'.

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

verb meaning 'to be called'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: The German alphabet has the same number of letters (26) as the English alphabet. Correction: The German alphabet also includes the letters 'ä, ö, ü, ß' and so consists of 30 letters.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 8 German guide library.