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Year 8 - German

The Black Forest: singular perfect tense with 'haben' and 'sein', 'durch'

Past journeys: perfect tense with 'sein'

Unit Summary

This unit introduces the German perfect tense with 'sein' for verbs of movement, practising it in contrast to the perfect tense with 'haben' in singular forms. 'Mit' is introduced with modes of transport allowing pupils to practise word order manner before place.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to express what you or someone else did or has done on a past trip.

Key Notes

  • Learning new words requires practice in a range of ways, e.g., the look, cover, write, check method and self-testing.
  • [er] is two common sounds in German, which need to be practised regularly in reading aloud, speaking and writing.
  • The 3rd person singular perfect tense uses 'hat' or 'ist' with a past participle to say what he or she did or has done.
  • 'Durch' is a preposition meaning 'through' and is always followed by the accusative.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • [er]: sound-symbol correspondence pronounced as in 'er' ('he'), and 'wieder' ('again')
  • perfect tense: the German past tense which translates 2 English past tenses; e.g., 'I did' and 'I have done'
  • past participle: the form of a verb used in the perfect tense; e.g., 'gespielt' ('played')

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • The perfect tense in German is always formed with a part of 'haben' to express what someone has done.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Learning new words requires practice in a range of ways, e.g., the look, cover, write, check method and self-testing. [er] is two common sounds in German, which need to be practised regularly in reading aloud, speaking and writing.

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

sound-symbol correspondence pronounced as in 'er' ('he'), and 'wieder' ('again'). Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: The perfect tense in German is always formed with a part of 'haben' to express what someone has done. Correction: Some verbs require a part of 'sein' to form the perfect tense, often with verbs of movement to a destination.

More Lessons In This Unit

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