Verb Bee
Prerequisites for Participation
Open to students in German 3 and above.
Up to 5 students per school.
Rules
The verbs have been selected from the current editions of Deutsch aktuell and Komm mit!. The verbs have been divided into three levels of difficulty. Each level includes regular (weak) verbs, irregular (strong) verbs, and irregular weak verbs. The complete list of verbs can be found here:
Prerequisites for Participation
Open to students in German 3 and above.
Up to 5 students per school.
Rules
The verbs have been selected from the current editions of Deutsch aktuell and Komm mit!. The verbs have been divided into three levels of difficulty. Each level includes regular (weak) verbs, irregular (strong) verbs, and irregular weak verbs. The complete list of verbs can be found here:
| verbkonjugationen_verb_bee.pdf |
Format for Rounds 1, 2, and 3
Round 1: Verb Bee is played over three rounds, corresponding to the three levels of difficulty. The first (and easiest) round will be written. All participants will fill in the remaining forms on a chart with the headings of English infinitive, German infinitive, third-person singular for present, simple past, and present perfect tense. An abbreviated example might look like this:
English Infinitive German Infinitive 3rd P. Sg. Present Tense 3rd P. Sg. Simple Past 3rd P. Sg. Present Perfect (w/ aux.)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
to eat
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
kaufen
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
bleibt
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
roch
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Round 2: All students having fewer than five mistakes in round 1 will be allowed to continue to the oral second round. In round 2 each student will have the opportunity to conjugate one verb and if successful will move on to round 3. The judges will alternate selecting infinitive verbs from the round 2 list and pronounce them in German one time. The contestant will repeat the word, give the three principal parts in the third person singular (present, simple past, present perfect) followed by the infinitive in English. Once a verb form has been spoken, no corrections may be made. Any mistakes, incl. pronunciation mistakes (e.g., a missing Umlaut), eliminate the candidate. Once a verb has been missed, it will be passed to the next candidate. If it is missed three times in a row, the verb will be relegated to the round 3 list. Once all students have had a chance to conjugate a round 2 verb, the remaining students will proceed to round 3.
Round 3: During this final round a verb will be passed on until conjugated correctly. (Only after no one gets it right will a new verb be drawn). When the number of students is reduced to two, the elimination procedure changes (just as in the Spelling Bee). At this point, when Student A misses a verb, Student B will be given an opportunity to conjugate the same verb. If Student B does that verb correctly, plus the next verb from the hat, then Student B will be declared the champion. If Student A misses a verb and Student B, after correcting the error, misses the new verb, then the missed new verb shall be referred to Student A. If Student A then succeeds in correcting the error and gets the next verb right, then Student A will be declared the champion. If both students miss the same verb, both shall continue in the competition, and the one who first missed the verb shall be given a new one. This procedure continues until one of the students is able to correct the other student and conjugate the next verb correctly. That student will be declared the champion.
Round 1: Verb Bee is played over three rounds, corresponding to the three levels of difficulty. The first (and easiest) round will be written. All participants will fill in the remaining forms on a chart with the headings of English infinitive, German infinitive, third-person singular for present, simple past, and present perfect tense. An abbreviated example might look like this:
English Infinitive German Infinitive 3rd P. Sg. Present Tense 3rd P. Sg. Simple Past 3rd P. Sg. Present Perfect (w/ aux.)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
to eat
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
kaufen
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
bleibt
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
roch
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Round 2: All students having fewer than five mistakes in round 1 will be allowed to continue to the oral second round. In round 2 each student will have the opportunity to conjugate one verb and if successful will move on to round 3. The judges will alternate selecting infinitive verbs from the round 2 list and pronounce them in German one time. The contestant will repeat the word, give the three principal parts in the third person singular (present, simple past, present perfect) followed by the infinitive in English. Once a verb form has been spoken, no corrections may be made. Any mistakes, incl. pronunciation mistakes (e.g., a missing Umlaut), eliminate the candidate. Once a verb has been missed, it will be passed to the next candidate. If it is missed three times in a row, the verb will be relegated to the round 3 list. Once all students have had a chance to conjugate a round 2 verb, the remaining students will proceed to round 3.
Round 3: During this final round a verb will be passed on until conjugated correctly. (Only after no one gets it right will a new verb be drawn). When the number of students is reduced to two, the elimination procedure changes (just as in the Spelling Bee). At this point, when Student A misses a verb, Student B will be given an opportunity to conjugate the same verb. If Student B does that verb correctly, plus the next verb from the hat, then Student B will be declared the champion. If Student A misses a verb and Student B, after correcting the error, misses the new verb, then the missed new verb shall be referred to Student A. If Student A then succeeds in correcting the error and gets the next verb right, then Student A will be declared the champion. If both students miss the same verb, both shall continue in the competition, and the one who first missed the verb shall be given a new one. This procedure continues until one of the students is able to correct the other student and conjugate the next verb correctly. That student will be declared the champion.