KS4 · German · Year 11
Salzburg, Österreich: modal verbs present vs imperfect, role-play (AQA)
Communication and the World Around us: Wiederholung: Menschen und Orte
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/9
Your learning goal
I can use the present and imperfect tenses of modal verbs and can take part in a role-play scenario.
1 of 9
Salzburg, Österreich: modal verbs present vs imperfect, role-play (AQA): 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 the present and imperfect tenses of modal verbs and can take part in a role-play scenario.
Key learning points
- Modal verbs are always followed by a 2nd infinitive verb which normally comes at the end of the sentence.
- Modal verbs are irregular in the first, 2nd and 3rd person singular, but regular in plural forms.
- Modal verbs are mostly used in the imperfect tense when they describe past events. Remove any umlauts in the imperfect.
- The imperfect tense endings for modal verbs (-te, -test, -te. -ten, -tet, -ten) are the same as for weak verbs.
- When performing a role-play, answers should be a short phrase or sentence. Do not add unnecessary detail.
Words to know
- modal verb
- verb of necessity or possibility (must, can, want) used with a 2nd verb in infinitive, which goes to the end
- imperfect tense
- German single-word past tense used mainly to narrate past events in writing, e.g. 'war', 'hatte', 'gab', 'fand'
Common mistakes
I should include as much detail as possible in role-play answers.
When performing a role-play, answers should contain one verb and be concise. You should not add unnecessary detail.
For parents, carers and teachers
- There are two versions of the role-play in Learning Cycle 3. Option 1 is for Higher students and Option 2 is for Foundation students.

