German lesson 4
- Adjective Endings
German adjectives, like English ones, usually go in front of the noun they modify: "der gute Mann" (the good man), "das große Haus" (the big house/building), "die schöne Dame" (the pretty lady). Unlike English adjectives, a German adjective in front of a noun has to have an ending (-e in the examples above). Just what that ending will be depends on several factors, including gender (der, die, das) and case (nominative, accusative, dative). But most of the time the ending is an -e or an -en (in the plural). With ein-words, the ending varies according to the modified noun's gender (see below).
Look at the following table for the adjective endings in the nominative (subject) case:
With definite article (der, die, das) - Nominative case
der neue Wagen - the new car
die schöne Stadt - the beautiful city
das alte Auto - the old car
die neuen Bücher - the new books
With indefinite article (eine, kein, mein) - Nom. case
ein neuer Wagen - a new car
eine schöne Stadt - a beautiful city
ein altes Auto - an old car
keine neuen Bücher - no new books
Note that with ein-words, since the article may not tell us the gender of the following noun, the adjective ending often does this instead (-es = das, -er = der; see above).
As in English, a German adjective can also come after the verb (predicate adjective): "Das Haus ist groß." (The house is large.) In such cases the adjective will have NO ending.
- When are adjectives declined, and when not?
- Adjectives must be declined when:
- used as noun attribute before a noun: ein wichtiges Gespräch (an important conversation).
- used as noun: das Schwarze (the black) That is a 'substantiviertes Adjektiv' (adjective used as noun).
- Adjectives remain undeclined when:
- used as phrase adjective - that is either as predicative: Sie ist gut (She's good). Das ist falsch (That's wrong), or adverbially: Sie arbeitet schwer (She's working hard).
- as attribute of an adjective or adverb: Ein grässlich kalter Wind (A disgusting cold wind).
