Christine Thürmer: nominalisation of infinitive verbs, plural rules 7-9 | German

Starter quiz

Match the German adjectives to their English equivalents.

schrecklich

⇔

terrible ✓

nützlich

⇔

useful ✓

fantastisch

⇔

fantastic ✓

wissenschaftlich

⇔

scientific ✓

glücklich

⇔

happy, fortunate ✓

unglaublich

⇔

unbelievable ✓
An __________ describes a noun and an adverb qualifies a __________ or adjective. As adverbs, 'schnell' means __________, 'unglaublich' means __________ and 'eigentlich' means __________.

1

⇔

adjective

2

⇔

verb

3

⇔

quickly

4

⇔

unbelievably

5

⇔

actually or really
Which of the following sentences use word order 3 (WO3)?

Ich weiß, du sprichst Deutsch und Französisch.

Wenn er Zeit hat, liest er gute Bücher. ✓

Wir wissen, dass du eine andere Sprache lernen willst. ✓

Er mag Deutsch, obwohl er es schwierig findet. ✓

Du sprichst so gut Deutsch, denn du wohnst jetzt in Hamburg!
Match these English nouns to their German equivalents.

home, homeland

⇔

Heimat (f) ✓

fear (of), anxiety (about)

⇔

Angst (f) ✓

danger, risk

⇔

Gefahr (f) ✓

eye

⇔

Auge (nt) ✓

customer (f)

⇔

Kundin (f) ✓

understanding

⇔

Verständnis (n) ✓
Mein Vater __________ sehr gern aber du __________ lieber fern. Unsere Mutter __________ sehr gut Deutsch. Sie sagt uns: Ihr __________ Deutsch mit mir __________!

1

⇔

liest

2

⇔

siehst

3

⇔

spricht

4

⇔

könnt

5

⇔

sprechen
Which of these verbs are strong verbs?

hören - to hear, listen

helfen - to help ✓

verbessern - to improve

stimmen - to agree

lassen - to let, allow ✓

Exit quiz

Match the German verbs to their English equivalents.

anfangen

⇔

to start, starting ✓

helfen

⇔

to help, helping ✓

schlafen

⇔

to sleep, sleeping ✓

mitnehmen

⇔

to take along, to take with you ✓

vesprechen

⇔

to promise, promising ✓
Sort the words below into the correct order to complete the following sentence: Plural rule 7 adds an '-e' to __________ __________ feminine nouns and an __________ where possible.

1

⇔

single

2

⇔

syllable

3

⇔

umlaut
Words like 'das Verhältnis' (relationship), 'das Gefängnis' (prison), 'die Erlaubnis' (permission) and 'das Zeugnis' (certificate) follow plural rule ______.

'eight' ✓
Match the plural rules to the correct groups of plurals.

plural rule 7

⇔

die Hände, die Nächte, die Lüfte, die Künste ✓

plural rule 8

⇔

die Hindernisse, die Verhältnisse, die Berdürfnisse ✓

plural rule 9

⇔

die Augen, die Ohren, die Herzen, die Wochenenden ✓
Translating into German is an __________ skill because it helps us to consolidate our __________ and grammar. It's also essential to __________ the __________ clearly.

1

⇔

important

2

⇔

vocabulary

3

⇔

communicate

4

⇔

message
Which elements from the checklist below would you use to check the following sentence? 'Wenn man eine neue Sprache häufig übt, sieht man die Ergebnisse relativ schnell.'

which 'to know' verb to use - 'wissen' or 'kennen'?

WO1 or WO3 - check the conjunctions ✓

plural rules ✓

some adjectives and adverbs are identical ✓

whether you are using weak or strong verbs - the stem changes for strong verbs ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

To make single syllable feminine nouns plural, add '–e' and an umlaut where possible.
To make nouns ending in '–nis' plural, add –se.
To make some neuter nouns plural, add '-(e)n'.
Use any German infinitive as a noun by nominalising it as a neuter noun.
To turn noun-verb phrases to nouns, create compound nouns.

Common misconception

Verb infinitives only ever mean 'to do' something.

Verb infinitives can be 'nouned' or nominalised by capitalising the first letter. These words are 'neuter' and can be used with or without 'das'. They do not need an ending (like the 'ing' in English) and are useful for extending vocabulary.

Keywords

Nominalisation - turning a verb into a noun
Plural rule 7 - add 'e' and an umlaut where possible to single syllable feminine nouns; for example, 'die Städte'
Plural rule 8 - add '-se' to nouns ending in '-is'; for example, 'die Ereignisse'
Plural rule 9 - add '-(e)n' to some neuter nouns; for example, 'die Augen'