Weak declension is used if the adjective follows a definite article (der/die/das).Don’t worry these types aren’t difficult to tell apart. That’s because there are three types of declension. I’ve mentioned already that to master German adjective endings, you will need to memorize three simple tables. Only attributive adjectives that come before the noun do. Remember: Predicative adjectives (adjectives that come after the verb) do not take endings. That’s because they are positioned in front of the noun – and what these adjective endings do is indicate the gender ( der/die/das), number ( plural/singular), and case ( Nominative/Genitive/Dative/Accusative) of the noun they precede. When learning German adjective endings, you need to remember that only attributive adjectives take endings. ( Die schwarz e Katze lief über die Straße.) The other type of adjectives is attributive adjectives. These are adjectives that come after the noun (and even after the verb) in a sentence. In both languages, there are two ways adjectives do this – and it all comes down to where they are placed in a sentence. Well, let me explain! Not all adjectives need endingsĪdjectives have the same function in English as they do in German.
You may now be wondering if they are always necessary and what they are for. These extra syllables at the end of words (-e, -en, -em, and more) are what we call adjective endings. Sometimes it will even be something like kaltem. Sometimes, it will say kalte instead of kalt. You know that cold is kalt in German, but you might’ve seen other forms of kalt floating around. If you’ve ever tried reading any German text, you’ve probably come across different forms of adjectives. ( Das Haus ist groß.)īig is the adjective here, and it describes both the noun in example 1 ( the house) and the pronoun in example 2 ( it). A couple of examples are words such as black ( schwarz), small ( klein), or fast ( schnell).Īdjectives can also be used to describe a pronoun. What are adjectives?Īdjectives, or Adjektive, are words that we use when we want to describe a noun. These are some of the basics that will make your life a lot easier. We’ll get to those in a minute.īut first, there are a couple of things you need to know. Once you know what’s going on, it’s really all about remembering three simple tables. Like I said, German adjective endings aren’t all that bad. I promise you’ll be able to master them in no time.
Trust me: there is no reason to fear German adjective endings. Once you understand what’s going on, there’s only a little bit of memorization that you’ll have to do. And while it may all seem a bit intimidating at first, it isn’t all that bad. Or are they? In this post, we will go over the different types of adjective declension and try to make sense of it all. Everybody knows that German adjective endings are incredibly confusing and difficult to learn.
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