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Year 8 - German

Where you went and where you were: 'in', 'an', 'auf', time with 'vor' and 'nach'

Past events: perfect and imperfect tenses, adjective agreement and comparatives

Unit Summary

This unit revisits the perfect and imperfect tenses, as well as word order 1 and 3. Pupils also revisit numbers and dates, including ordinal numbers and practise telling the time more precisely as they describe and narrate past events.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use 'in', 'an', and 'auf' with the accusative and dative to say where you went or was on a past holiday, and you can understand the time past and to the hour.

Key Notes

  • 'Nach' means 'past' and 'vor' means 'to' the hour when saying the time.
  • In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, greetings vary by region and time of day.
  • The accusative is used with 'in', 'an', 'auf' when there is movement to a place, e.g., 'ich gehe in den Zoo'.
  • The dative is used with 'in', 'an', 'auf' when the person is at or in a place, e.g., 'ich bin im Zoo'.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • preposition: a word that is used before a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun, connecting it to another word
  • accusative: case used for the direct object in a sentence, after most verbs and some prepositions
  • dative: case used for the indirect object in a sentence and after a dative verb or preposition

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • To greet German speakers, use either 'hallo' or 'guten Tag'.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

'Nach' means 'past' and 'vor' means 'to' the hour when saying the time. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, greetings vary by region and time of day.

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

a word that is used before a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun, connecting it to another word. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: To greet German speakers, use either 'hallo' or 'guten Tag'. Correction: Greetings in German-speaking countries vary depending on time of day, country/region and level of formality, e.g., 'hallo' in Germany but 'servus' in Austria and 'hoi' in Switzerland.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 8 German guide library.