Year 9 - German
Childhood experiences: imperfect modal verbs 'konnte', 'musste', 'wollte'
Past lives and experiences: imperfect modal verbs, perfect tense
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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 revisits the perfect tense with sein, introducing change of state verbs, and teaches the formation of past participles of separable verbs. Imperfect modal verbs (singular) are introduced as pupils learn about past lives and experiences within the cultural context of migration in Germany.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to form the imperfect tense of 'können', 'müssen' and 'wollen', and you am aware of aspects of childhood in Germany.
Key Notes
- Months of the year are masculine and borrowed from English, but the stressed syllables are not the same.
- Modal verbs are used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, which comes at the end of the sentence.
- The imperfect tense of modal verbs is commonly used when speaking, as well as when writing.
- Add -te to the verb stem of a modal verb for the 1st and 3rd person singular imperfect tense, e.g., 'er musste'.
- Add -test to the verb stem of a modal verb for the 2nd person singular imperfect tense, e.g., 'du wolltest'.
Vocabulary To Learn
- modal verb: verb of necessity or possibility ('must', 'can', 'want') used with a 2nd verb in infinitive, which goes to the end
- imperfect tense: German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Modal verbs don't require a 2nd verb in the infinitive unless they are in the present tense.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
Months of the year are masculine and borrowed from English, but the stressed syllables are not the same. Modal verbs are used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, which comes at the end of the sentence.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'modal verb'
verb of necessity or possibility ('must', 'can', 'want') used with a 2nd verb in infinitive, which goes to the end. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: Modal verbs don't require a 2nd verb in the infinitive unless they are in the present tense. Correction: Modal verbs require a 2nd verb in the infinitive in other tenses, including the imperfect tense, e.g., 'ich konnte schwimmen'. They do not require a preceding 'zu' before the infinitive. Other verbs do.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Childhood experiences: imperfect plural forms of 'sein' and 'haben' Study Guide
- Famous people and their languages: perfect tense with 'sein', calendar years Study Guide
- Language and identity: separable verbs, cardinal and ordinal numbers Study Guide
- Migrant experiences: noun suffixes, 'welch-' Study Guide
- Migration: imperfect modal verbs 'konnte', 'musste', 'wollte' Study Guide
- Migration: imperfect modal verbs, word order with two-verb structures Study Guide
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