Year 8 - German
Where did you go? How did you travel? Word order, manner before place
Past journeys: perfect tense with 'sein'
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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 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 use the manner-place rule when talking about past travel: where you went and how you got there.
Key Notes
- [a] and [o] are short when followed by two consonants, but long when followed by single consonants or 'h', ('Bahnhof').
- The perfect tense is formed with a part of 'haben' or 'sein' + a past participle, which goes at the end of the sentence.
- 'Mit' + dative is used to describe the manner in which a person travels, and goes before place in a sentence.
Vocabulary To Learn
- perfect tense: a verb tense that describes completed actions in the past, e.g., 'I (have) said', 'she (has) played'
- past participle: verb form that forms the perfect tense, together with the auxiliary verb
- mit: preposition 'with', and 'by' with transport; expresses the manner in which an action is performed
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- When talking about travel, where and how you went can be given in any order, as is the case in English.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
[a] and [o] are short when followed by two consonants, but long when followed by single consonants or 'h', ('Bahnhof'). The perfect tense is formed with a part of 'haben' or 'sein' + a past participle, which goes at the end of the sentence.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'perfect tense'
a verb tense that describes completed actions in the past, e.g., 'I (have) said', 'she (has) played'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: When talking about travel, where and how you went can be given in any order, as is the case in English. Correction: When using adverbs to say where and how you went in the same sentence, manner (how) always comes before place (where).
More Lessons In This Unit
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