German adjectives
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Adjectives are words naming an attribute or a characteristic of a noun. So, they describe how the refering noun is. For example:
Schön (pretty) is in this case the adjective, because it describes the noun.
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In German there are four different main types of adjectives and how they are used.
Form of adjective | Characteristics |
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The predicative use |
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The attributive use |
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The adverbial use |
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The nominal use |
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Additionally, participles and verbs also can assume the function of an adjective.
To learn more about the different forms of adjectives, their formation and use, have a look at the chapter about it.
You can build adjectives out of nouns, verbs, adverbs and other adjectives by adding the right syllable at the end of the word, or using prefixes or suffixes.
In all cases a transformation of a vowel to an Umlaut (Ö, Ü, Ä) can be necessary. For instance: rot (red) - rötlich (redish).
Formation of adjective | Example |
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Using prefixes |
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Transforming a verb | verb ' liegen' (to lie):
verb 'schließen' (to close):
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Transforming a noun | noun 'das Gebilde' (the formation):
noun 'der Untergang' (the downfall):
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Transforming an adverb | adverb: 'bald' (soon):
adverb: 'sofort' (instant):
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Transforming an other adjective | adjective: 'faul' (lazy):
adjective: 'voll' (full):
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Using suffixes |
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Additionally, there are two types of participles in German:
Characteristics | Example | |
---|---|---|
Present participle | Is used to describe:
|
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Past participle | Is used to describe:
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In German language it is also quite common to use compound words. These words are made out of two other. Of course, this can also be used to build new adjectives. For example:
First word | Second word | Compound word |
---|---|---|
konform (compliant) | das System (the system) | systemkonform (in conformity with the system) |
behindert (disabled) | sehen (to see) | sehbehindert (visually impaired) |
groß (big) | der Riese (the giant) | riesengroß (tremendous) |
To get a deeper unterstanding of all this possibilities of forming German adjectives, have a look at the chapter about how to form them.
In German there are three degrees of comparison:
You usually form the form by adding either -er or am -sten:
Of course, there are exceptions of this rule, but to get a deeper insight have a look at the chapter about comparative and superlative in German.
In German language it is extremely important to decline the word in the right way. To do so, you have to consider:
To decline the adjective in the right way, there are 3 different types of possible declension:
To see the whole declension and exceptional cases, have a look at the chapter about the declension of German adjectives.
In German, you can use ordinal numbers to express the relative position of a thing etc. or to express a certain order.
To form the numbers you just:
For example:
Cardinal number | Ordinal number |
---|---|
eins (1) | erste (1.) |
zwei (2) | zweite (2.) |
drei (3) | dritte (3.) |
fünfzehn (15) | fünfzehnte (15.) |
einundzwanzig (21) | einundzwanzigste (21.) |
zweiunddreißig (32) | zweiunddreißigste (32.) |
In German it is common to use these numbers as adjectives. Here are some examples:
To see some more examples, the declension and usage of ordinal numbers, especially their use as adjectives, have a look at the chapter abour forming and declension of ordninal numbers.
Additionally, there are some special forms of words in German, that can either be used as adjectives, or as pronouns.
You might have heard of e.g. possessive pronouns instead of adjectives. The difference between the use as adjective and as pronouns is, that a pronoun replaces a noun of a sentence, whether an adjective accompanies a noun.
Here you can have a look at the special forms of adjectives:
Type of adjective | Words used |
---|---|
Possessive adjectives | mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, ihr
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Demonstrative adjectives | dieser, diese, dieses, jener, jene, jenes
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Interrogative and exclamatory adjectives | welch-, was für (ein-)
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Indefinite adjectives | e.g. etwas, wenige, ein paar, viele etc.
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To learn more about each of the types of adjectives used in German, just click on the name and you will get to the special chapter about it.
Additionally, there is a chapter with a list of German adjectives, representing the most common used adjectives in German language.
In the following chapters you will learn all about the German adjectives and how to use them. Have fun.
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1 Different types of adjectives in German | Learn about predicative, adverbial and attributive adjectives in German. |
2 How to form German adjectives | Learn how to form German adjectives in the right way |
3 German participle as adjectives | Learn about the German participle used as adjective |
4 Comparative and superlative adjectives in German | Learn about the German comparative form of adjectives. |
5 Declension of German adjectives | Learn how to correctly conjugate the German adjectives |
6 Forming and declension of ordinal numbers in German | Learn about German cardinal and ordinal numbers and their use as adjectives. |
7 Possessive adjectives in German | Learn about possessive forms of adjectives and their usage. |
8 Demonstrative adjectives in German | Learn more about demonstrative adjectives in German. |
9 Interrogative and exclamatory adjectives in German | Learn about interrogative and exclamatory adjectives in German and see some useful examples. |
10 Indefinite adjectives in German | Learn more about German indefinite adjectives, their usage and the difference to pronouns. |
11 List of German Adjectives | Here you'll find a list of different kinds of German adjectives |