KS4 · German · Year 11
Recyceln: formal and informal questions, 'du', 'ihr', 'Sie'
My neighbourhood: Mein Wohnort
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/10
Your learning goal
I can create formal and informal questions in the context of helping the environment.
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Recyceln: formal and informal questions, 'du', 'ihr', 'Sie': 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 formal and informal questions in the context of helping the environment.
Key learning points
- The consonantal [r] makes a rolling sound at the back of the throat and the vocalic [r] has a gentle ‘ah’ sound.
- A closed question is formed by swapping the position of the verb and subject in a statement. This is called inversion.
- An open question is formed by adding a question word before the verb at the start of a closed question.
- Use 'du' questions for informal singular ‘you’, 'ihr' questions for informal plural ‘you’, and 'Sie' for formal ‘you’.
- Use rising intonation, as well as correct word order, to make it clear that you are asking a question.
Words to know
- du
- subject pronoun meaning ‘you’, informal and singular
- ihr
- subject pronoun meaning ‘you’, informal and plural
- Sie
- subject pronoun meaning 'you', formal
Common mistakes
When adapting a question to a different form of 'you', just change the pronoun, e.g., from 'du' to 'Sie'.
When adapting a question from 'du' to a different form of you ('ihr' or 'Sie'), it's important to also change the verb form. With strong verbs, this can also involve a stem vowel change e.g., 'isst du?' becomes 'essen Sie?'.
For parents, carers and teachers
- This lesson could usefully be extended to include a speaking task, with students asking and answering the questions on the environment topic, and using the vocabulary covered in the lesson to enhance their answers.