KS4 · German · Year 11
Das Leben in anderen Ländern: adjectives with '-los', uses of 'man'
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Your learning goal
I can create adjectives from nouns and use the pronoun 'man' to express what 'is done' and 'was done' by people in general.
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Das Leben in anderen Ländern: adjectives with '-los', uses of 'man': slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
Original teaching resources
The original illustrated PowerPoint is available as well as the IllumED text slides. It retains the publisher’s design and credits.
Download original PowerPoint ↓What you’ll learn
I can create adjectives from nouns and use the pronoun 'man' to express what 'is done' and 'was done' by people in general.
Key learning points
- Add the suffix '-los' to nouns to create adjectives meaning '-less' or 'without -'.
- Some '-los' adjectives can be translated directly, but some have other English adjectives with equivalent meanings.
- The subject pronoun 'man' is used to mean 'people' or 'you' as well as 'one'.
- Use 'man + verb' to translate English phrases that do not specify a particular subject, e.g., 'It is said that ... '.
- 'Man' is used far more commonly in German than the English subject pronoun ‘one’.
Words to know
- suffix
- a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or how it is used, e.g., '-los'
- man
- 3rd person singular pronoun meaning 'one,' 'you', used to refer to people in general
Common mistakes
The German subject pronoun 'man' must always be translated using the English subject pronoun 'one'.
'Man' has a range of possible translations, including 'people' and 'you'. It can also be used to say what 'is done' or 'was done' by people in general.
For parents, carers and teachers
- The use of 'man' + active verb for passive avoidance is Higher tier only grammar, but all students should be familiar with using the subject pronoun 'man' to translate active sentences. At GCSE (Higher) only -los adjectives with English equivalent ‘-less’ or ‘without + noun’ will be tested.