Year 8 - German
English and German schools: pronouns 'uns' and 'ihnen'
Last year or this year: present and perfect tenses
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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 revisits past and present tenses in familiar contexts including school. Pupils ask and answer questions in present and perfect tenses. with the use of 'seit' plus present tense contrasting with 'vor' ago, pupils can talk about what they do, since when and for how long.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use object pronouns to talk about school.
Key Notes
- Practising vocabulary, both known and new, is important for building language knowledge.
- Starting school in Germany is different from a child's first day at school in England.
- Many German verbs are followed by direct objects or pronouns; two plural direct object pronouns are 'uns' and 'sie'.
- Some German verbs use indirect or dative objects; two plural indirect object pronouns are 'uns' and 'ihnen'.
- Sometimes indirect object pronouns mean 'to us', 'to them', etc., but they can just mean 'us', 'them'.
Vocabulary To Learn
- dative: case used for the indirect object in a sentence and after a dative verb or preposition
- indirect object pronoun: replaces the person, people or thing(s) that the verb action is done to, when the action is to me, for you, to them, also called dative pronoun
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Object pronouns like me, him, they are always the same in German, like English.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
Practising vocabulary, both known and new, is important for building language knowledge. Starting school in Germany is different from a child's first day at school in England.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'dative'
case used for the indirect object in a sentence and after a dative verb or preposition. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: Object pronouns like me, him, they are always the same in German, like English. Correction: German object pronouns can be direct or indirect; they change their spelling depending on the case needed, e.g. direct object pronoun 'dich' - you is accusative; indirect object pronoun 'dir' - you is dative. The case is often determined by the verb.
More Lessons In This Unit
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