Last summer: singular perfect tense with weak and some strong verbs | German

Starter quiz

Match these English words to their German translations.
- holidays
  
  ⇔
  
  die Ferien ✓
- holiday
  
  ⇔
  
  der Urlaub ✓
- fun
  
  ⇔
  
  der Spaß ✓
- this
  
  ⇔
  
  dieser, diese, dieses ✓
- last
  
  ⇔
  
  letzter, letzte, letztes ✓
- eaten, ate
  
  ⇔
  
  gegessen ✓
Which of the following are past participles of strong verbs?
- geschrieben ✓
- erlebt
- gesehen ✓
- getroffen ✓
- gekauft
Put these time adverbials in the correct order, going from the most distant to the nearest past.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  letztes Jahr
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  letzten Monat
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  letzte Woche
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  gestern
What is the correct English translation of the following sentence? 'Letzte Woche hat er Deutschland besucht.'
- Last week he visited Germany. ✓
- Last week I visited Germany.
- Last week I went to Germany.
- Last week he has visited Germany.
Match these German words to the correct gender. Use the English clues to help you.
- Dorf
  
  ⇔
  
  das (small 'town') ✓
- See
  
  ⇔
  
  der (lake) ✓
- Sommer
  
  ⇔
  
  der (season) ✓
- Woche
  
  ⇔
  
  die (period of time) ✓
- Schwimmbad
  
  ⇔
  
  das (sports venue) ✓
- Verein
  
  ⇔
  
  der (club or society) ✓
Put the endings below in the correct order to complete the following time adverbials: 'Letzt__________ Wochenende, nächst__________ Montag, dies__________ Woche.'
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  -es
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  -en
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  -e

Exit quiz

Which of these perfect tense questions is correct?
- Hat er Tennis gespielt? ✓
- Er hat Tennis gespielt?
- Hat er gespielt Tennis?
- Er hat gespielt Tennis?
What does 'welch-' mean in English?
- 'which' ✓
Match the German question words to their English equivalents.
- wie
  
  ⇔
  
  how ✓
- was
  
  ⇔
  
  what ✓
- wo
  
  ⇔
  
  where ✓
- wann
  
  ⇔
  
  when ✓
- welch-
  
  ⇔
  
  which ✓
- wer
  
  ⇔
  
  who ✓
What are the correct English translations of the following German question? 'Was hast du dieses Wochenende gemacht?'
- What did you do this weekend? ✓
- What have you done this weekend? ✓
- What will you do this weekend?
- What are you doing this weekend?
Match these German sentences to the correct English sentence or question starter.
- Wann hast du gegessen?
  
  ⇔
  
  When have/did you ... ✓
- Wie hat er gesungen?
  
  ⇔
  
  How has/did he ... ✓
- Ich habe Pizza gegessen.
  
  ⇔
  
  I have/(did) ... ✓
- Wo hat sie Freunde getroffen?
  
  ⇔
  
  Where has/did she ... ✓
- Hast du Deutsch gesprochen?
  
  ⇔
  
  Have/did you ... ✓
- Er hat gestern gespielt.
  
  ⇔
  
  He has/(did) ... ✓
Put the words below in the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'Which band did Mia see on Wednesday?' The first word in the sentence has not been capitalised.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  welche
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  Band
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  hat
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  Mia
- 5
  
  ⇔
  
  am
- 6
  
  ⇔
  
  Mittwoch
- 7
  
  ⇔
  
  gesehen

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

'Welch-' is a determiner and question word which needs to agree with the noun it refers to.
Past participles of weak and strong verbs with 'haben' are consolidated.
The form of 'haben' changes when talking about different people but the past participle stays the same.
For questions in the past tense, swap 'haben' and the subject. The past participle stays at the end of the sentence.

Common misconception

Pupils often either forget 'haben' altogether in a sentence or question, or forget to change it when talking about different people.

Use cards or physical gestures to demonstrate the elements of the sentence to reinforce the core structure, then vary these to demonstrate changing 'haben' to match the subject of the sentence, and to demonstrate change in word order in questions.

Keywords

Weak verb - a verb whose past participle sandwiches the verb stem with 'ge' and '-t'; for example, 'gespielt'
Strong verb - a verb whose participle sandwiches the stem with 'ge' and 'en'; the stem vowel often changes
Perfect tense - the German past tense formed with the verb 'haben' and the past participle
Past participle - the form of a verb used in the perfect tense; for example, 'I have done'