
(They were freed by violence.)ĭo not learn those endings by heart, but keep them in mind, because it might be helpful while learning new vocabulary. (The floor is sticky.)Įin beispielhafter Aufsatz (an exemplary essay)Įine alkoholische Bowle (an alcoholic punch)ĭas nachdenkliche Mädchen (the thoughtful girl) (The food is eatable.)ĭer Fußboden ist klebrig. If a word has verbal roots, the adjective is directly derived from a verb.ĭas Essen ist essbar. Same case is with über- & unter-: überschätzt (overestimated) & unterschätzt (underestimated). For instance, the syllable un- often expresses the opposite of the original word (bequem = comfortable/ unbequem = uncomfortable). Keep in mind, that some prefixes have a special meaning. Prefixes are like short syllables added to a word. The prefix just means before, so something will be right in front of the simple adjective.
transforming another adjective (addjectival root). transforming an adverb (adverbial root). Take a look at chapter for different types of adjectives for detailed information.įind a teacher Derived adjectives in Germanīesides the simple adjectives there are also expanded adjectives, which can be generated by:
Some types of adjectives stay the same, but some of them you have to decline. You can call them descriptive adjectives, because they provide additional information about persons and (abstract) things. colours, as well as derived adjectives, that were deduced from other words. In German, there are simple adjectives like e.g. Exercise on the different roots of adjectives in German Compound adjectives made from nouns, verbs and other adjectives The present participle used as an adjective Adjectives formed out of past or present participles in German
‘mein alter’ (my old one) refers to ‘ Computer’. Mein alter hat kürzlich den Geist aufgegeben.“ (I bought a new computer yesterday. „Ich habe mir gestern einen neuen Computer gekauft. That noun (antecedent) does not necessarily have to be mentioned in the same sentence: Watch it: Despite capitalization, the adjective is lower case if it refers to a previously mentioned noun. „Geduld ist das Wichtigste.“ (Patience is the most important thing.). „ Die Neue kam heute zum ersten Mal ins Büro.“ (The new one came to the office for the first time today.). A determiner (here in orange) often appears in front of the adjective: Capitalization of adjectives is achieved by nominalization. Examples of lower case adjectives that include a noun as a component:. Information: Additionally, note the current spelling rules for adjectives, which allow further exceptions to capitalization. Nevertheless, they can be nominalized, and in that case, they are capitalized. What spelling rules of adjectives need to be considered?Īdjectives in German are lower case, although they often contain a noun as the first part of the word. „Wir sollten an unserem letzten Tag kräftig feiern.“ (We should celebrate hard on our last day.). „Marie redet mal wieder sehr laut.“ (Marie is talking very loudly again.). Adjectives may also refer to verbs (adverbial usage ):. „Die Angebote vor Weihnachten sind sehr günstig.“ (The offers before Christmas are very inexpensive.). „Das Haus ist alt.“ (The house is old.). Adjectives that follow their antecedent (predicative usage ) are not declined:. „Ich habe mir ein neues Fahrrad gekauft.“ (I have bought a new bicycle.). „Der Arbeiter fällt die großen Bäume im Park.“ (The worker is cutting the big trees in the park.). Adjectives that come before their antecedent (meaning in attributive use ) are declined:. Compare the following differences in usage in detail: #GERMAN GRAMMAR RULES FOR ADJECTIVES PLUS#
In terms of spelling, they are written in lower case – even if they are compounds of a noun plus adjective (see below), which is possible in German.
Adjectives can be used in three different ways, as listed below. Their declension follows the respective noun they refer to, which is called the antecedent. Almost all adjectives are inflectable, in particular, declinable. Adjectives (German name: Adjektive or Eigenschaftswörter) are words that describe and modify nouns or verbs in more detail.