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Year 8 - German

Things I like: nominative adjective agreement, definite and indefinite articles

Who am I? Adjective agreement, 'weil' and 'denn'

Unit Summary

This unit introduces prenominal adjective agreement in nominative and accusative cases. It equips pupils with the knowledge to describe themselves and others in more detail. It will also analyse how to vary giving reasons with 'denn' (word order 1) or 'weil' (word order 3).

Lesson Summary

You understand adjective endings with definite and indefinite articles in the nominative case and can use them to talk about things you like.

Key Notes

  • [ai] and [ei] can sound the same in German, but in words borrowed from English [ai] is pronounced as in English.
  • In German, when adjectives come after the verb 'sein' (to be) they do not change.
  • In German, adjectives in front of a noun add endings; this is called adjective agreement.
  • Add '-e' for the singular nominative ending of all adjectives with definite articles.
  • The singular nominative adjective endings for indefinite articles are -er (masculine), -e (feminine), and -es (neuter).

Vocabulary To Learn

  • [ai]: sound-symbol correspondence (SSC) pronounced as in 'der Hai'
  • adjective agreement: when the ending of an adjective matches the noun it describes in gender and number
  • nominative: form(s) used for the subject or 'doer' of the verb

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • When German adjectives come before the noun, they don't change their spelling, just like in English, e.g., 'The dog is black'; 'The black dog is over there.'.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

[ai] and [ei] can sound the same in German, but in words borrowed from English [ai] is pronounced as in English. In German, when adjectives come after the verb 'sein' (to be) they do not change.

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

sound-symbol correspondence (SSC) pronounced as in 'der Hai'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: When German adjectives come before the noun, they don't change their spelling, just like in English, e.g., 'The dog is black'; 'The black dog is over there.'. Correction: In German, when adjectives come after the verb 'sein' (to be) they don't change. However, adjectives in front of a noun add endings do; this is called adjective agreement. There are different endings depending on gender (m, f, nt) and on the article.

More Lessons In This Unit

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