Making Plans: Exam Skills (AQA GCSE German): Revision Note

Listen to Sophie and Markus making plans for the weekend. Complete the table in English.

Answers:

• Before the recording plays, use the reading time to look at the table and think about what type of information you need for each row

• You are listening for an activity, a day, a time and a place - four different types of detail

Three German teenagers are talking about meeting up with friends. Write P if the activity happened in the past, N if it is happening now, F if it will happen in the future.

Answers:

• At Higher tier, the time frame is often not signalled by an obvious adverb - you have to work it out from the verb tense and context

• Hannah uses the perfect tense (habe … gekauft) to describe something already done, but the future tense (werden hingehen) tells you the concert itself is still to come

• Lukas uses the perfect tense throughout with a past opinion (es war schön)

• Nina's use of gerade and the present tense (sitzen, warten) signals something happening now

• Always listen to the whole extract before deciding - the tense at the end of a sentence can change the answer

You are talking to your German friend about the weekend. Your teacher will play the part of your friend and will speak first. You should address your friend as du.

1    Say one activity you would like to do.
2    Say when you are free. (Give one detail.)
3    Give one opinion about going out with friends.
4    Say where you can meet. (Give one detail.)
?  5    Ask your friend a question about the time.

Answers:

Here are some example responses:

1. Ich möchte ins Kino gehen. I would like to go to the cinema.

2. Ich habe am Samstagnachmittag Zeit. I have time on Saturday afternoon.

3. Ich finde es toll, mit Freunden auszugehen. I think it's great to go out with friends.

4. Wir können uns am Bahnhof treffen. We can meet at the station.

5. Um wie viel Uhr kannst du kommen? What time can you come?

You are talking to your Austrian friend about plans you made recently. Your teacher will play the part of your friend and will speak first. You should address your friend as du.

1    Say what you had planned to do last weekend. (Give two details.)
2    Say why your plans changed. (Give one detail.)
3    Say what you did instead and what you thought of it. (Give one detail and one opinion.)
4    Say what you would like to do next weekend and when. (Give one detail and one time.)
?   5    Ask your friend a question about their weekend.

Answers:

Here are some example responses:

1. Ich wollte am Samstag mit meinen Freunden ins Kino gehen und danach in einem Restaurant essen. I wanted to go to the cinema with my friends on Saturday and then eat in a restaurant.

2. Ich musste zu Hause bleiben, weil ich krank war. I had to stay at home because I was ill.

3. Ich habe Filme geschaut, aber das fand ich ein bisschen langweilig. I watched films, but I found that a bit boring.

4. Nächstes Wochenende möchte ich meine Freunde treffen - am liebsten am Samstagnachmittag. Next weekend I would like to meet my friends - ideally on Saturday afternoon.

5. Was hast du am Wochenende gemacht? What did you do at the weekend?

• At Higher tier, several prompts ask for two pieces of information - make sure you give both, as each detail can contribute to your mark

• Prompts like 'Give one detail and one opinion' are also an opportunity to use the imperfect modal forms you have practised: ich wollte …, ich musste …, ich konnte nicht…

• Using these accurately shows a strong command of grammar and will help you access the higher marks.

Read what three people say about their weekend plans. Match the correct person with each statement below.

Who says what? Write A for Anna. Write F for Felix. Write K for Klara.

Anna: Ich will am Samstag einkaufen gehen, weil ich neue Schuhe brauche. Am Abend möchte ich zu Hause bleiben.

Felix: Ich kann leider am Wochenende nicht ausgehen, weil ich meinen Eltern helfen muss. Vielleicht können wir uns nächste Woche treffen.

Klara: Am Sonntag möchte ich mit meiner Schwester ins Restaurant gehen. Ich muss aber zuerst meine Hausaufgaben machen.

Answers:

• There is only one correct answer per question, so read each statement carefully

• Both Anna and Klara have evening plans, but only Anna wants to stay at home - Klara is going out

• This kind of small detail is exactly what these questions are designed to test

Translate these sentences into English.

• Am Samstag wollte ich mich mit meinen Freunden treffen, aber ich konnte nicht gehen.

• Meine Schwester möchte am Wochenende ins Kino gehen, weil sie den neuen Film sehen will.

• Wir haben beschlossen, uns am Donnerstagabend um halb acht am Bahnhof zu treffen.

• Wenn das Wetter schön ist, werden wir einen Ausflug in die Stadt machen.

Answers:

• On Saturday I wanted to meet my friends, but I couldn't go.

• My sister would like to go to the cinema at the weekend because she wants to see the new film.

• We decided to meet at the station on Thursday evening at half past seven.

• If the weather is nice, we will go on a trip into town.

• German word order is very different from English, especially with modal verbs - the infinitive goes to the end of the clause in German but must be repositioned in English

• Always reread your translation as a complete sentence and ask: does this sound like natural English?

• If it reads awkwardly, you have probably followed the German word order too closely

• Pay particular attention to sentences with weil (because) and wenn (if / when), which send the verb to the end in German but not in English

Choose the correct word from the three options.

• Ich ………………… am Samstag ins Kino gehen.

The correct answer is will.
The sentence means: I want to go to the cinema on Saturday.
Wollen is the infinitive and wollte is the imperfect tense form.

• ………………… du am Wochenende ausgehen?

The correct answer is Kannst.
The sentence means: Can you go out at the weekend?
Kann is the ich / er / sie form and Können is the infinitive or wir / sie / Sie form.

• Er muss zu Hause ………………… , weil er krank ist.

The correct answer is bleiben. The sentence means He has to stay at home because he is ill. After a modal verb, the second verb must be in the infinitive. Bleibt is the present tense er form and geblieben is the past participle.

• Wir treffen uns ………………… um neunzehn Uhr.

The correct answer is am Samstag.
The sentence means: We are meeting on Saturday at seven o'clock.
To say 'on' a specific day, use am + the day. Samstag alone without am is incorrect here, and samstags means 'on Saturdays' (every Saturday) rather than this specific Saturday.

• Ich gehe am Freitagabend mit meinen Freunden …………………

The correct answer is aus.
The sentence means: I am going out with my friends on Friday evening.
Ausgehen is a separable verb - the prefix aus- splits off and moves to the end of the sentence.

• Each question in this task tests a specific grammar rule

• Before choosing your answer, ask yourself: what grammar point is being tested here?

• For modal verbs, the key question is: does this sentence need the infinitive or a conjugated form, and if conjugated, which person?

You are writing a blog post about making plans with friends.

Write approximately 150 words in German. You must write something about both bullet points. Describe:

• Plans you made with friends recently

• What you like to do when you meet up with friends, and why

Here is an example response:

Letztes Wochenende haben meine Freundin Sophie und ich einen Ausflug in die Stadt gemacht. Wir sind zuerst in ein Café gegangen und haben Kuchen gegessen und Kaffee getrunken, danach sind wir ein bisschen einkaufen gegangen. Am Abend wollten wir noch ins Kino gehen, aber der Film hatte leider schon angefangen, als wir ankamen. Das war schade, also sind wir stattdessen zu Sophie nach Hause gefahren und haben einen Film gestreamt. Wir haben auch Pizza bestellt, was wirklich lecker war. Trotzdem war es insgesamt ein sehr schöner Tag.

Wenn ich mich mit Freunden treffe, gehe ich am liebsten aus - zum Beispiel ins Kino, ins Café oder in den Park. Ich finde es wichtig, Zeit mit Freunden zu verbringen, weil man dabei entspannen und den Alltag vergessen kann. Außerdem macht es viel mehr Spaß, etwas gemeinsam zu unternehmen als allein zu Hause zu sitzen. Am Wochenende haben wir meistens mehr Zeit, deshalb treffen wir uns oft samstags oder sonntags nachmittags.

Last weekend my friend Sophie and I went on a trip into town. We first went to a café and ate cake and drank coffee, then we went shopping for a bit. In the evening we wanted to go to the cinema, but unfortunately the film had already started when we arrived. That was a shame, so instead we drove to Sophie's house and streamed a film. We also ordered pizza, which was really tasty. Nevertheless, it was overall a very nice day.

When I meet up with friends, I most like going out — for example to the cinema, to a café or to the park. I think it is important to spend time with friends, because you can relax and forget everyday life in the process. Besides, it is much more fun to do something together than to sit at home alone. At the weekend we usually have more time, so we often meet on Saturday or Sunday afternoons.

• Both bullet points must be covered to access the highest marks, but you do not need to write an equal amount on each

• Aim to develop your ideas - don't just list facts, but explain and justify them using connectives like weil (because), deshalb (therefore) and obwohl (although)