Year 9 - German
What did they do then? Perfect, imperfect 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', compound nouns
Past lives: perfect and imperfect tenses
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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 past tenses. The perfect tense is consolidated as variations on past participle formation are practised. The imperfect tense (war, hatte, es gab) is revisited, with question formation and word order 3 conjunctions. Pupils learn how to say calendar years in German.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to form compound nouns, recognise patterns in past participles and contrast different past tenses, in the context of talking about what others have done.
Key Notes
- A compound noun is made up of two or more nouns. Its gender comes from the final noun, e.g., 'die Partymusik'
- Some groups of verbs form their past participles following the same vowel changes, e.g., [ei] to [ie]; [e] to [o].
- The imperfect tense is a one-word past tense, mostly used in written German, apart from some key verbs, e.g., 'es gab'.
- Sometimes the present tense is used to narrate past events. This is the 'historical present' and is mostly written.
- The purpose of the historical present is to make events feel more immediate or heighten the drama.
Vocabulary To Learn
- compound noun: a noun made up of two or more nouns
- past participle: verb form that forms the perfect tense, together with the auxiliary verb 'haben' or 'sein'
- imperfect tense: a single-word past tense, used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g., 'war', 'hatte', 'gab'
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Verbs form their past participles by sandwiching the verb stem with 'ge-' and '-t' or '-en'.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
A compound noun is made up of two or more nouns. Its gender comes from the final noun, e.g., 'die Partymusik'. Some groups of verbs form their past participles following the same vowel changes, e.g., [ei] to [ie]; [e] to [o].
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'compound noun'
a noun made up of two or more nouns. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: Verbs form their past participles by sandwiching the verb stem with 'ge-' and '-t' or '-en'. Correction: Not all verbs form past participles in the same way. For instance, verbs that start with inseparable prefixes or end '-ieren' do not add 'ge-'. Some groups of verbs have a vowel change in the stem, e.g., 'finden', 'gefunden'.
More Lessons In This Unit
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