Mein Alltag jetzt und früher: '-chen' and '-lein', 'wenn' and 'als' | German

Starter quiz

Match the German and English.

abhängen

⇔

to depend, depending ✓

erhöhen

⇔

to raise, increase ✓

feststellen

⇔

to establish, detect, determine ✓

sich (dative) vorstellen

⇔

to imagine, imagining ✓

verhindern

⇔

to prevent, preventing ✓

abgeben

⇔

to give in, hand in, submit ✓
Which of the following words have a hard [ch] sound?

ich

Buch ✓

Nacht ✓

mich

machen ✓
Match the German and English.

die Ordnung

⇔

order, tidiness ✓

das Produkt

⇔

product ✓

die Wahl

⇔

choice ✓

das System

⇔

system ✓

vorne, vorn

⇔

at, to the front ✓

zurück

⇔

back ✓
Which of the following conjunctions send the verb to the end of the clause?

wenn ✓

denn

dass ✓

weil ✓

und
Which time phrases can only refer to the past?

früher ✓

jetzt

jeden Tag

damals ✓

manchmal
What is the finite (conjugated) verb in the following sentence? 'Ich will bald zurückkommen.'

'will' ✓

Exit quiz

Which suffixes can be added to nouns to form diminutive or 'little' forms?

-ung

-lein ✓

-chen ✓

-keit

-heit
What gender are the diminutive forms of nouns, e.g., 'Hündchen', 'Kirchlein'?

'neuter' ✓
'Wir waren in der Straßenbahn, __________'. Which clause could complete this sentence?

als wir in die Stadt fahren.

als wir Wolfgang gesehen haben. ✓

wenn wir haben Wolfgang gesehen.

wenn wir in die Stadt fahren.

als wir haben Wolfgang gesehen.
If we start a sentence with 'als' or 'wenn', what word order do we have in the middle of the sentence?

comma - verb - verb

verb - comma - verb ✓

verb - verb - comma
Translate the following sentence into German: 'When I was younger.'

'Als ich jünger war.' ✓
Translate the following sentence into German: 'When I have to get up early.'

'Wenn ich früh aufstehen muss.' ✓

Worksheet

Loading worksheet ...

Presentation

Loading presentation ...

Video

Lesson Details

Key learning points

German [ch] can be soft or hard. The sound [ei] is pronounced like ‘frei’.
The suffixes -chen and -lein are added to make diminutive nouns. They often gain an umlaut and are always neuter.
'Wenn' means ‘when’, ‘whenever’ of ‘if’ and is used for repeated actions or conditions in the present or future.
'Als' means ‘when’ to refer to a specific past event or point in time.
Both 'als' and 'wenn' trigger word order 3, sending the finite verb to the end of the sentence or clause.

Common misconception

We use 'wann' to say what we did, do or will do 'when'.

'Wann' is a question word and means 'when' in questions and indirect questions. Use 'als' for 'when' when referring to specific past events or points in time and 'wenn' for repeated actions or conditions in the present or future.

Keywords

Wenn - conjunction meaning ‘if’ or ‘when’ which triggers word order 3
Als - conjunction meaning ‘when’, referring to specific past events, which triggers word order 3
Word order 3 - (WO3) after certain conjunctions, the verb is sent to the end of the sentence or clause
-chen, -lein - suffixes added to nouns to make diminutive or ‘little’ forms