Activities for Wer wenn nicht wir
We’ve chosen some vocabulary and grammatical concepts from this song and provided flashcards, games and exercises for you to learn and practice them.
Did you miss the analysis for this song? Find it here!
Activities
Vocabulary Excercises
We have chosen 15 terms out of this song’s lyrics to form our vocabulary list, which can be found below. You can use the following activities to learn and practice this vocabulary.
Vocabulary Flashcards – Learn the vocabulary from this song with our sets of German to English and English to German flashcards, then test yourself with our interactive flashcards.
Vocabulary Games – Practice the vocabulary for this song using our memory and matching games and our word search puzzle.
Vocabulary Exercises – Fill in the missing vocabulary with drag and drop and fill in the blanks exercises.
Grammar Exercises
There are several separable verbs in this song. Full conjugations of these verbs can be found below. You can use the following activities to learn and practice these verbs.
Separable Verb Flashcards – Practice the separable verbs in this song with our sets of German to English and English to German flashcards, then test yourself with our interactive flashcards.
Separable Verb Games – Practice the separable verbs in this song using our memory and matching games.
Separable Verb Exercises – Practice the separable verbs in this song using our drag and drop, fill in, and highlighting exercises.
Resources
Vocabulary List
| Term | Meaning | P of S | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| begreifen | to understand, comprehend; recognize; grasp, realize | irreg verb | begrеifen |
| einfangen | to catch; trap, capture | irreg verb | fängst |
| Frage (pl Fragen) | question; test | fem noun | Fragen |
| kopfstehen | to stand on one’s head; go wild, be in a state of excitement, be in a state of turmoil; be beside oneself, be upside down | irreg verb | steh’ |
| leichtnehmen | take lightly, take it easy, make light of | irreg verb | leicht |
| passieren | to happen; pass, cross | reg verb | passiert |
| reichen | to be enough, suffice; reach; pass, hand | reg verb | reichen |
| schwernehmen | take seriously, take to heart | irreg verb | schwer |
| treffen | to hit, strike; hurt; affect; meet, find; reach; make | irreg verb | trifft |
| umgehen | to go around, evade, dodge; avoid; deal with, handle; haunt; | irreg verb | geh’ |
| verlieren | to lose, misplace; forfeit | irreg verb | verlier’n |
| vorsichtig | cautious, careful, wary | adj | vorsichtig |
| Weg (pl Wege) | path, way; route, road; distance | masc noun | Weg |
| zu zweit | in pairs | zu zweit | |
| zusammen | together | adv | zusammen |
Separable Verbs
In German, some verb prefixes separate from the verb when it is conjugated. The prefix then moves to the end of the main clause. The following example from this song shows the verb ‘einfangen’.
Flieg’ ich mal zu hoch, fängst du mich ein
If I fly too high one day, you’ll catch me
Note there are three types of verb prefixes: inseparable, always separable, and sometimes separable. We see examples from all three categories in this song. There are also several compound verbs that function as separable verbs.
Inseparable
| Prefix | Song Example |
| -be | begreifen |
| -ver | verlieren |
Always Separable
| Prefix | Song Example |
| -ab | abfangen |
| -an | anfangen |
| -ein | einfangen |
| -zu | zumachen |
Sometimes Separable
Prefixes that are sometimes separable will be separable when the prefix is the stressed syllable of the verb.
| Prefix | Song Examples |
| -um | umgehen, umdrehen |
Compound Verbs
| Compound Verb | Components |
| schwernehmen | schwer + nehmen |
| leichtnehmen | leicht + nehmen |
| kopfstehen | Kopf + stehen |
Conjugations
The following charts show the full conjugations of the present tense of the separable verbs found in this song.
abfangen: to catch, capture, intercept; prop up, support; bring under control
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich fange … ab | wir fangen … ab |
| Second person | du fängst … ab | ihr fangt … ab |
| Third person | er/sie/es fängt … ab | sie fangen … ab |
anfangen: to begin, start
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich fange … an | wir fangen … an |
| Second person | du fängst … an | ihr fangt … an |
| Third person | er/sie/es fängt … an | sie fangen … an |
einfangen: to catch; trap, capture
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich fange … ein | wir fangen … ein |
| Second person | du fängst … ein | ihr fangt … ein |
| Third person | er/sie/es fängt … ein | sie fangen … ein |
zumachen: to close, shut
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich mache … zu | wir machen … zu |
| Second person | du machst … zu | ihr macht … zu |
| Third person | er/sie/es macht … zu | sie machen … zu |
umgehen: to go around, evade, dodge; avoid; deal with, handle; haunt
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich gehe … um | wir gehen … um |
| Second person | du gehst … um | ihr geht … um |
| Third person | er/sie/es geht … um | sie gehen … um |
umdrehen: to turn (sth), reverse, turn around, revolve, turn over
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich drehe … um | wir drehen … um |
| Second person | du drehst … um | ihr dreht … um |
| Third person | er/sie/es dreht … um | sie drehen … um |
schwernehmen: take seriously, take to heart
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich nehme … schwer | wir nehmen … schwer |
| Second person | du nimmst … schwer | ihr nehmt … schwer |
| Third person | er/sie/es nimmt … schwer | sie nehmen … schwer |
leichtnehmen: take sth lightly, take it easy, make light of
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich nehme … leicht | wir nehmen … leicht |
| Second person | du nimmst … leicht | ihr nehmt … leicht |
| Third person | er/sie/es nimmt … leicht | sie nehmen … leicht |
kopfstehen: be in a state of turmoil; be beside oneself
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | ich stehe … Kopf | wir stehen … Kopf |
| Second person | du stehst … Kopf | ihr steht … Kopf |
| Third person | er/sie/es steht … Kopf | sie stehen … Kopf |
