Tenses and modals

Tenses and modals

von Herrn Reid

Lesson objective

This lesson will be about reviewing and practising using a range of tenses, and also modal verbs

The aim is to get to you use a wide range of tenses confidently and accurately!​

Auf geht's!​

​

The perfect (past) tense

The perfect tense is the most commonly used past tense form in everyday German (apart from a few exceptions, like was and had).

The form is the ​equivalent of: I have played/stayed/been

You always need three parts:

Subject - auxiliary (haben or sein) - past participle (usually a verb starting with ge-)

E.g. Ich habe Pizza gegessen

Ich bin/ Wir sind nach Schottland gefahren ​(use sein with verbs of movement)

Multiple Choice

Ich ... nach Schottland geflogen

• bin

• sind

• habe

• haben

Multiple Choice

Wir ... in die Stadt gegangen

• bin

• sind

• habe

• haben

Multiple Choice

Ich ... meine Oma besucht, was langweilig war.

• bin

• sind

• habe

• haben

Multiple Choice

Wir ... jeden Tag Federball gespielt.

• bin

• sind

• habe

• haben

Multiple Choice

Ich habe Wein ...

• getrinken

• getrinkt

• getrunken

• betrunken

Multiple Choice

Wir sind nach Amerika ...

• gefliegt

• gefliegen

• geflögen

• geflogen

Multiple Choice

In den Ferien haben wir Freunde ...

• gebesucht

• besucht

• besuchen

• gebesuchen

Multiple Choice

Ich bin zu Hause ...

• bleiben

• gebleiben

• blieben

• geblieben

Multiple Choice

Gestern habe ich ein Buch ...

• gelesen

• gelest

• geliesen

• geliest

Fill in the Blank

Ich ... mit dem Fahrrad gefahren

Fill in the Blank

Ich ... Pizza gegessen

Fill in the Blank

Wir ... meine Mutter in der Küche geholfen

Fill in the Blank

Wir ... zu Hause geblieben

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

Last year we flew to Japan

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

Yesterday I went to the cinema with my friends

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

We saw a film

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

We saw the sights (e after the vowel = umlaut)

The imperfect (past) tense

This form of the past tense is most commonly used to say "I was" or "I had".

E.g. Ich war krank / Wir waren zu laut

Ich hatte blonde Haare / Wir hatten eine gute Zeit​

NB: there are different words for when, but when using when in the past, it's "als"​

Fill in the Blank

Translate:

The hotel was comfortable

Fill in the Blank

Translate:

The food was tasteless

Fill in the Blank

Translate:

The weather was foggy

Fill in the Blank

Translate:

I had straight hair

Fill in the Blank

Translate:

We had no time

The pluperfect (past before the past) tense

This tense is used when there are two events in the past, and you want to show the order in which they happened.

E.g. I went to the cinema, and I noticed I had forgotten my wallet

Ich bin ins Kino gegangen, und habe gemerkt, dass ich mein Portmonee vergessen hatte

This tense is a combination of the imperfect and perfect tenses:

​

Subject - past of haben/sein - past participle (usually starting with ge-)​

Multiple Choice

Which of these is the correct form of the pluperfect?

• Ich habe mein Portmonee vergessen

• Ich hat mein Portmonee vergessen

• Ich hatte mein Portmonee vergessen

• Ich bin mein Portmonee vergessen

Multiple Choice

Which of these is the correct form of the pluperfect?

• Ich war angekommen

• Ich bin angekommen

• Ich hatte angekommen

• Ich wurde angekommen

Fill in the Blank

Write the missing word so the sentence is in the pluperfect:

Ich ... meine Schultasche verloren

Fill in the Blank

Write the missing word so the sentence is in the pluperfect:

Wir ... die Eintrittskarten gekauft

Fill in the Blank

Write the missing word so the sentence is in the pluperfect:

Wir ... im Hotel angekommen

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

I had reserved a room

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

We had bought the food

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

We had organised the party

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

My sister had invited my friends

The future

You can refer to the future in German without using the future tense, but to credit for using the future tense in the exam, you should refer to the future by using 'werden' (will).

You need 3 parts for a future tense sentence:

Subject - werden - main verb at the end (ending in -en)

E.g. Ich werde nach Frankreich fahren​

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make the future tense:

Wir ... Zeit zusammen verbringen

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make the future tense:

Ich ... an der Uni studieren

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make the future tense:

Ich werde meine Freunde ... (invite)

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make the future tense:

Wir werden meine Oma ... (visit)

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

I will go to the restaurant

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

On the weekend I will go to the cinema

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

It will be exciting

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

I will be an actress

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German:

In the future I will study English

Conditional sentences

There are different types of conditional sentences.

They can express what you do in certain situations, e.g.

Wenn ich Zeit habe, gehe ich ins Kino

(When/if I have time, I go to the cinema)

For these sentences, you need verb comma verb in the middle.​

​

Conditional sentences

Another type of conditional sentence simply uses the modal verb "would":

E.g.

Ich w​ürde dieses Restaurant empfehlen

(I would recommend this restaurant)

You need three parts to this sentence:

Subject - wü​rden - main verb at the end (ending in -en)

Conditional sentences

Finally, a more complex version of the conditional expresses what you would do in an imaginary or ideal scenario.

E.g.

Wenn ich Zeit hätte, wü​rde ich studieren.

If I had time, I would study

​

You also need verb comma verb in the middle, and the main verb in infinitive form at the end.​

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct sentence:

• Wenn ich Zeit habe, ich spiele Federball

• Wenn ich Zeit habe, spiele ich Federball

• Wenn ich Zeit habe, spielen ich Federball

• Wenn ich habe Zeit, spiele ich Federball

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct translation:

I would travel to Australia

• Ich würde nach Australien fahren

• Ich wurde nach Australien fahren

• Ich werde nach Australien fahren

• Ich möchte nach Australien fahren

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct translation:

If I had time, I would travel around the world

• Wenn ich Zeit habe, würde ich eine Weltreise machen

• Wenn ich Zeit hatte, würde ich eine Weltreise machen

• Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich eine Weltreise machen

• Wenn ich Zeit hätte, wurde ich eine Weltreise machen

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make a conditional sentence (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Wenn ich Zeit ..., plaudere ich mit Freunden

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make a conditional sentence (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Wenn es regnet, ... ich zu Hause (stay)

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make a conditional sentence (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Ich ... nie wieder in diesem Hotel übernachten

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make a conditional sentence (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Wir ... in einer Pension übernachten.

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make a conditional sentence (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Wenn ich Zeit hätte, ... ich länger schlafen

Fill in the Blank

Add the correct word to make a conditional sentence (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Wenn ich Geld ..., würde ich ein großes Haus kaufen

Modal verbs (past and present)

We will look at 3 main modal verbs:

Could

Must/have to

To be allowed to​

​

Modal verbs (past and present)

​Notice that the only difference between past and present is that there is no umlaut in the past.

Also the 1st and 3rd person forms are the same.​

​

Modal verbs (past and present)

​Notice that the 1st and 3rd person forms in the present and past are the same.​

​

Modal verbs (past and present)

​Notice that the 1st and 3rd person forms in the present and past are the same.

​

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct option:

Ich ... zu Hause helfen

• müss

• muss

• musse

• musst

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct option:

Ich ... zu Hause helfen

• müsste

• musst

• musste

• müsse

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct option:

Wir ... zu Hause helfen

• müssen

• mussen

• musstet

• müsse

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct option:

Wir ... keinen Kaugummi kauen

• darf

• darfen

• durfen

• dürfen

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct option:

Wir ... zur Schule gehen

• mussen

• musse

• mussten

• muss

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct option:

Ich ... Klavier spielen

• kannst

• konnte

• kannte

• kannten

Fill in the Blank

Write the correct word in the gap: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Ich ... Gitarre spielen (could - past)

Fill in the Blank

Write the correct word in the gap: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Wir ... Freunde einladen (could - past)

Fill in the Blank

Write the correct word in the gap: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Ich ... in meinem Zimmer essen (was allowed to - past)

Fill in the Blank

Write the correct word in the gap: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

Ich ... einen schwarzen Blazer tragen (must - present)

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

I must study a lot

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

We weren't allowed to smoke

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

I couldn't sleep

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

I am allowed to wear a jacket

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

I wasn't allowed to stay at home

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

We are allowed to play table tennis

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

I could play the piano (past)

Fill in the Blank

Translate into German: (e after the vowel = umlaut)

He is allowed to drink juice