In my last post I began to talk about forming simple sentences with adjectives in German. You learned that there is no need to decline adjectives in so-called \u201cto be\u201d sentences or, in other words, when you put the adjective after the noun.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, things are getting more complicated when you want to put the adjective before the noun, for example, saying something like \u201cThe nice man\u201d, etc. In such sentence constructions you have to decline the adjective.<\/p>\n
Adjectives can take different endings depending on the type of word that precedes them. Words that precede adjectives are called \u201climiting words\u201d. These \u201climiting words\u201d perform the task of expressing gender and grammatical function (case). Hence the ending of the following adjective does not need to reflect this information (because this job is already carried out by the preceding \u201climiting word\u201d. Because of that, the adjective takes the so-called weak ending \u2013e\/-en.<\/p>\n
Words that limit the \u2018full\u2019 declension of adjectives are so-called \u201cder W\u00f6rter\u201d (der words), which are articles and such. \u201cDer W\u00f6rter\u201d are:<\/p>\n
der \u2013 the<\/p>\n
dieser \u2013 this<\/p>\n
jeder \u2013 each<\/p>\n
jener \u2013 that<\/p>\n
mancher \u2013 many a<\/p>\n
solcher \u2013 such<\/p>\n
welcher \u2013 which, what<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The following table shows how to decline adjectives in German when a \u201cder Wort\u201d precedes the adjective.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
| <\/td>\n | Masculine<\/strong><\/td>\n| Feminine<\/strong><\/td>\n | Neuter<\/strong><\/td>\n | Plural<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Case<\/strong><\/td>\n | \u201cthe little boy\u201d<\/td>\n | \u201cthe little cat\u201d<\/td>\n | \u201cthe little pig\u201d<\/td>\n | \u201cthe little pigs\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Nom.<\/strong><\/td>\n | der kleine<\/strong><\/span> Junge<\/td>\n | die kleine<\/strong><\/span> Katze<\/td>\n | das kleine<\/strong><\/span> Schwein<\/td>\n | die kleinen <\/strong><\/span>Schweine<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Acc.<\/strong><\/td>\n | den kleinen<\/strong><\/span> Jungen<\/td>\n | die kleine<\/strong><\/span> Katze<\/td>\n | das kleine <\/strong><\/span>Schwein<\/td>\n | die kleinen <\/strong><\/span>Schweine<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Dat.<\/strong><\/td>\n | dem kleinen <\/strong><\/span>Jungen<\/td>\n | der kleinen<\/strong><\/span> Katze<\/td>\n | dem kleinen <\/strong><\/span>Schwein<\/td>\n | den kleinen<\/strong><\/span> Schweinen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Gen.<\/strong><\/td>\n | des kleinen <\/strong><\/span>Jungen<\/td>\n | der kleinen<\/strong><\/span> Katze<\/td>\n | des kleinen <\/strong><\/span>Schweins<\/td>\n | der kleinen<\/strong><\/span> Schweine<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n | <\/p>\n As you can see, all adjectives following a der<\/em> word in the dative and genitive case or in the plural take the ending \u2013en. You can also see that you have to decline the noun according to gender and case.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Exercise: Now it\u2019s time again to practice what you have just learned. Fill in the blanks.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Die h\u00fcbsch___ Frau k\u00fcsst den klug___ Mann. (The pretty woman is kissing the smart man.) \u2013 die Frau = feminine, nominative; den Mann = masculine, accusative<\/p>\n 2. Das bunt__ Spielzeug geh\u00f6rt dem klein___ Jungen. (The colorful toy belongs to the little boy.) das Spielzeug = neuter, nominative; dem Jungen = masculine, dative<\/p>\n 3. Das weinend___ Kind geh\u00f6rt der fr\u00f6hlich__ Frau. (The crying child belongs to the cheerful woman.) \u2013 das Kind = neuter, nominative; der Frau = feminine, dative<\/p>\n 4. Die laut__ Musik kommt aus dem gro\u00df__ Zimmer. (The loud music comes from the large room.) \u2013 die Musik = feminine, nominative; dem Zimmer = neuter, dative<\/p>\n 5. Der hei\u00df__ Kaffee steht in der klein__ K\u00fcche. (The hot coffee is in the small kitchen.) \u2013 der Kaffee = masculine, nominative; der K\u00fcche = feminine, dative<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In my last post I began to talk about forming simple sentences with adjectives in German. You learned that there is no need to decline adjectives in so-called \u201cto be\u201d sentences or, in other words, when you put the adjective after the noun. Unfortunately, things are getting more complicated when you want to put the…<\/p>\n |