KS4 · German · Year 11
Flüsse in Deutschland: negation, 'sondern', 'entweder...oder', 'weder...noch'
My neighbourhood: Mein Wohnort
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IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/12
Your learning goal
I can use a range of negative structures and conjunctions in the context of describing places and possibilities.
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Flüsse in Deutschland: negation, 'sondern', 'entweder...oder', 'weder...noch': 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 use a range of negative structures and conjunctions in the context of describing places and possibilities.
Key learning points
- Use 'nicht' before definite articles to mean ‘not the’ and 'kein' instead of the indefinite article to mean 'not a, no'.
- Place 'nicht' before adjectives, adverbs, possessives and proper nouns. Place 'nicht' after verbs and whole phrases.
- Use 'nichts' to mean 'nothing' or 'not anything', e.g., 'ich sehe nichts.' Use 'nie' to mean 'never'.
- Use 'sondern' to mean 'but' or 'rather' when contradicting a preceding negative.
- Use the conjunction 'entweder … oder ...' to mean 'either … or ...' and 'weder … noch ...' to mean 'neither … nor ...'.
Words to know
- nicht
- word meaning 'not'
- nichts
- word meaning 'nothing' or 'not anything'
- nie
- word meaning 'never'
- kein
- word used instead of the indefinite article to mean 'not a', 'no', 'not any'
- sondern
- conjunction used after a negative, meaning ‘but’ or ‘rather’
Common mistakes
'Aber' and 'sondern' mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably.
Use 'aber' to contradict a preceding statement that does not contain a negative. Use 'sondern' to mean 'but' or 'rather' following a negative statement.
For parents, carers and teachers
- The use of the conjunction 'sondern' and compound conjunctions 'entweder ... oder ...' and 'weder ... noch ...' are only required at Higher tier, but teachers of mixed classes might find them a useful and relatively straightforward learning point for many students.