Year 8 - German
What was it like then? Imperfect tense: 'war, hatte, gab, damals, früher'
Then and now: imperfect tense and comparatives
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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 imperfect tense forms war, hatte, and es gab to compare places and experience in the past and present. The comparative is also introduced, and adjective endings revisited.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to confidently describe how things used to be, using a range of adjectives in the nominative and accusative cases.
Key Notes
- Knowing sound-symbol correspondences well helps develop reading and transcription skills.
- The nominative is used for articles and adjectives following 'sein', e.g., 'das ist ein großes Schloss'.
- The accusative is used for articles and adjectives following most other verbs, e.g., 'Ich habe einen kleinen Hund'.
- The imperfect tense is used to describe the way things were in in the past.
Vocabulary To Learn
- nominative: form(s) used for the subject of a verb in a sentence, and before and after 'sein'
- accusative: form(s) used for the direct object in a sentence, after most verbs and some prepositions
- imperfect tense: German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing; for example, 'war', 'hatte', 'es gab'
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Adjectives work the same way in German as in English and do not change their spelling.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
Knowing sound-symbol correspondences well helps develop reading and transcription skills. The nominative is used for articles and adjectives following 'sein', e.g., 'das ist ein großes Schloss'.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'nominative'
form(s) used for the subject of a verb in a sentence, and before and after 'sein'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: Adjectives work the same way in German as in English and do not change their spelling. Correction: German adjectives change their ending when placed before the noun, depending on the case needed, and the gender of the noun they describe.
More Lessons In This Unit
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