Matthias Maurer: yes/no questions in the perfect and imperfect tenses | German

Starter quiz

Match the German words below to the correct English translations.

anfangen

⇔

to start, starting ✓

schlafen

⇔

to sleep, sleeping ✓

verbessern

⇔

to improve, improving ✓

probieren

⇔

to try, trying ✓

sich konzentrieren auf

⇔

to concentrate on, concentrating on ✓

aufgeben

⇔

to give up, giving up ✓
Match the German words below to the correct English translations.

university

⇔

die Universität ✓

to write to

⇔

schreiben an ✓

(back) then

⇔

damals ✓

result

⇔

das Ergebnis ✓

knoweldge

⇔

die Kenntnis ✓

understanding

⇔

das Verständnis ✓
Past participles of -ieren verbs always end in ______.

'iert' ✓
Which of these statements correctly describe how to form a yes/no question in German?

Write the sentence as a statement and add a question mark at the end.

In the present tense, put the verb first, then the subject. ✓

In the perfect tense, put 'haben' or 'sein' first, then the subject. ✓

Put the question word first, then the verb, then the subject.
Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into German: 'Did you answer the question?'

1

⇔

hast

2

⇔

du

3

⇔

die

4

⇔

Frage

5

⇔

beantwortet

6

⇔

?
Which verbs do not have 'ge-' at the beginning of their past participles?

verbs beginning with 'be-' ✓

verbs beginning with 'er-' ✓

verbs beginning with 'ver-' ✓

verbs beginning with a vowel

verbs ending with '-ieren' ✓

Exit quiz

Match the subjects to the correct imperfect verb forms.

du

⇔

hattest ✓

wir, sie (plural)

⇔

hatten ✓

ihr

⇔

hattet ✓

ich, er, sie, es

⇔

hatte ✓
Sort the words below into the correct order to complete the following sentence: 'Du __________ sehr müde, als wir im Kino __________. Der Film __________ spannend und ihr __________ glücklich.'

1

⇔

warst

2

⇔

waren

3

⇔

war

4

⇔

wart
Sort the words below into the correct order to complete the following sentence: Male __________ nouns add __________ to the __________ stem. Then add __________ for the feminine form of the noun.

1

⇔

agent

2

⇔

-er

3

⇔

verb

4

⇔

-in
Match these German male agent nouns to their English meanings.

Beobachter

⇔

observer ✓

Denker

⇔

thinker ✓

Entdecker

⇔

discoverer ✓

Unterstützer

⇔

supporter ✓

Entwickler

⇔

developer ✓

Helfer

⇔

helper ✓
Which of the below are correctly formed yes/no questions about Matthias Maurer?

Hat er Naturwissenschaften studiert? ✓

Wie hat er Kinder inspiriert?

Hatte er Follower auf Instagram? ✓

Sein Leben war spannend?

Wann wurde er geboren?
'Ich __________ (read) das Buch, als ich im Urlaub __________ (was). Ich _________ (lay) am Strand aber meine Mutter __________ (sat) im Schatten. Dann __________ (wrote) ich dir einen Brief.'

1

⇔

las

2

⇔

war

3

⇔

lag

4

⇔

saß

5

⇔

schrieb

Worksheet

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

[er] at the end of a word is unstressed and sounds like the English ‘uh’.
The [r] in female people nouns is consonantal and is rolled at the back of the throat.
Change verbs to male person nouns by adding –er to a verb stem.
To form a yes/no question in the perfect tense, swap the subject and the verb and send the past participle to the end.
To form a yes/no question in the imperfect tense, swap the subject and the verb.

Common misconception

Asking yes/no questions in the past is much more complicated than the present tense, as the rules are different. You need to translate 'did'.

The English 'did' isn't needed. Swap subject and verb for a yes/no question. 'Er sprach' (imperfect) becomes 'Sprach er?'. In the perfect tense, the past participle stays at the end of the sentence: 'Er hat gesprochen' - 'Hat er gesprochen?'.

Keywords

Male agent noun - a noun for someone who performs the action of a verb, usually ending in -er; for example, worker - ‘Arbeiter’
Imperfect tense - German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing; for example, 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'
Perfect tense - German two-word past tense using either 'haben' or 'sein' with a past participle