![]() The declension of adjectives is an unavoidable facet of the German language. The following flowchart, also from Thuleen’s handout, sums up the aforementioned steps: In what types of texts will adjective endings be found? Wo ist der rote Mantel? ( der shows that Mantel is masculine, so only -e is added to rot) ( eine shows that Lampe is feminine, so only -e is added to klein) If YES (if the article already shows the gender): add -e. (something needs to show the -r that is inherent to der Hund - since sein does not show it, -er is added to alt) (something needs to show the -s that is inherent to das Buch - since ein does not show it, -es is added to gut) If NO (if the article is ein/dein/etc): add -er for masculine nouns, -es for neuter nouns.ĭas ist ein gutes Buch. Question 4: Does the article show gender? ![]() If YES (if the noun is singular), move on to question 4. ( keine, plural nominative, is in its original form, but it is plural, so an -en is added to schön) ( die, plural accusative, is in its original form, but it is plural, so an -en is added to jung) If YES (if the article is in its original form), move on to question 3. ( der, feminine dative, has changed from the original die) ![]() ( einen, masculine accusative, has changed from the original ein) If NO (if the article is different from its original form), add -en. Question 2: Is the article in the standard, unchanged form? If YES (if there is an article already), move on to question 2. (it would be diesen Kaffee, so we add -en to kalt) (it would be dieses Bier, so we add -es to deutsch) If NO (if there is no article): add the ending that would occur on a der-word for that noun.įor instance: Deutsches Bier schmeckt gut. She poses the following questions, which act as guidelines in determining the appropriate adjective ending (Note: I added the boldformatting, but the content is taken verbatim from her linked page): Question 1: Does the adjective have an article in front of it? (Articles are words like der, die, das, ein, mein, unser, dieser, jeder, etc.) Thuleen describes an excellent flow chart method in her „Adjektivendungen“ handout. Which adjective ending is appropriate for which context? Attributive: Ich habe dieses billig e Auto letzte Woche gekauft.Predicate: Dieses Auto war sehr billig.How do adjective endings function in German?Īccording to Georgia Southern University’s German grammar page ,Īdjectives are used in two ways: as predicate (following the noun they describe they often seem to be adverbs) or as attribute(preceding the noun they describe): One should note that the „ descriptive adjective“ Thuleen speaks of is also referred to as a „ predicate“ adjective, such as in the example in the next section (below). There are two ways to use adjectives in a sentence: as a descriptive adjective („the house is nice“), or as an attributive adjective („it is a nice house“). Nancy Thuleen explains the function of adjective endings: ![]() For this reason, it can be difficult for those students whose first acquired language is English: a strong equivalent to German adjective endings does not exist in modern English. Adjective Endings (Adjektivendungen) What are adjective endings?Īdjective endings (a form of declension) occur prominently in the German language but significantly less in the English language.
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