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Adjektivendungen--Hartmut's Version
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Summary
Diagnostic Exercises (check if you've mastered this topic!)
You will be asked 20 questions. IF YOU GET A QUESTION WRONG, KEEP
TRYING UNTIL YOU GET IT RIGHT. THE PROGRAM WILL ONLY CALCULATE
YOUR SCORE IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED ALL THE QUESTIONS. Incorrect
guesses will reduce your score. When you are finished, click "Submit" if you
are satisfied with your score. Remember you need a score of at least 80% in
order to get a "check" for this assignment.
Determiners
Examples
Notes
Adjective Nouns
Summary
In order to be able to apply what you will learn here about adjective endings, you need to know the
Basic Chart of the forms of der/das/die and the ein-words, and you should be comfortable with
the German case system (Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive).
A determiner is any der-word (der/das/die, dieser, jener etc.), or any ein-word with an ending
(eine, einen, einem, keine, keines, meine, seine, ihre, unsere etc., BUT NOT ein, kein, mein, sein, ihr,
unser, euer).
If there is a determiner preceding the adjective, the adjective will end in -e or -en ("weak endings"),
according to the following table:
M
Pl
Nominative
-e
-e
-e
-en
Accusative
-en
-e
-e
-en
Dative
-en
-en
-en
-en
Genitive
-en
-en
-en
-en
If there is no determiner preceding the adjective, the adjective will take (roughly) the same ending
that der/das/die would have had if it had preceded the noun ("strong endings"). This amounts to
the following table of endings:
M
Pl
Nominative
-er (der)
-es (das)
-e (die)
-e (die)
Accusative
-en (den)
-es (das)
-e (die)
-e (die)
Dative
-em (dem)
-em (dem)
-er (der)
-en (den)
Genitive
-en (des)
-en (des)
-er (der)
-er (der)
Notes:
If there is more than one adjective preceding a noun, they will all take the same ending.
If the adjective does not precede the noun, it takes no ending!
Ein-word endings are not the same as adjective endings! Click here to review the ein-word
endings.
There are a few special cases:
Viel and wenig take no adjective endings in the singular when they are not preceded
by a determiner (which they usually aren't).They take regular adjective endings in the
plural.
Hoch drops the "c" and adjectives ending in -el or -er drop their final "e" when they
take adjective endings.
Some adjectives never take endings, e.g. prima [=great], lila [=purple], rosa [=pink],
orange, beige
Practice Exercises
Determiners Determine whether or not the adjectives in these statements about determined people are
preceded by determiners.
Drill Some purely mechanical practice at filling in adjective endings. NOTE: WHERE THERE SHOULD BE
NO ENDING, WRITE "x" or "X."
Frisches Brot More fairly mechanical practice. NOTE: WHERE THERE SHOULD BE NO ENDING, WRITE "x"
or "X."
Romeo und Julia I Fill in the adjective endings in this passage about Romeo & Julia. NOTE: WHERE
THERE SHOULD BE NO ENDING, WRITE "x" or "X."
Romeo und Julia II More of Romeo & Julia's exploits :) NOTE: WHERE THERE SHOULD BE NO ENDING,
WRITE "x" or "X."
Adjective Nouns Fill in the adjective endings. NOTE: WHERE THERE SHOULD BE NO ENDING, WRITE "x"
or "X."
Kunst Fill in the adjective endings in short descriptions of some famous artworks by German-speaking
artists. There are 15 items, so keep clicking on "weiter" when you finish a page. This exercise will open in
a new window, as its navigation buttons will take you to a web worksheet on art, and not back to this
page on adjective endings.
Practice Exercises on Other Sites
History of Berlin Fill in the adjective endings in a series of statements about the history of Berlin. This
exercise, compiled by Dr. Olaf Bhlke at Creighton University, includes detailed feedback for each item.
Determiners
Please note that you will not generally find this terminology oustside of this webpage, e.g. in
German textbooks or on other websites. The term "determiner" is occasionally used in some
textbooks, but usually in a slightly different sense than here, so be careful!
A determiner is any der-word (der/das/die, dieser, jener, welcher, jeder etc.), or any ein-word with
an ending (eine, einen, einem, keine, keines, meine, seine, ihre, unsere etc., BUT NOT ein, kein,
mein, sein, ihr, unser, euer).
Note that a determiner may occasionally be concealed in a contraction, e.g. "im" = "in dem"
conceals the determiner "dem"; "zur" = "zu + der" conceals the determiner "der."
If a determiner is present, it already conveys the essential information about the gender and case
of the noun, so the adjective can take relatively uninformative "weak" endings, -e or -en. If no
determiner is present, the adjective has to convey the information about the gender and case of
the noun, so it will take (roughly) the same ending that der/das/die would have had if it had
preceded the noun.
Try the first one of the practice exercises above to practice recognizing determiners.
Pl
Nominative
-e
-e
-e
-en
Accusative
-en
-e
-e
-en
Dative
-en
-en
-en
-en
Genitive
-en
-en
-en
-en
Another way of thinking about the information in this table: Once you've figured out that the
adjective is preceded by a determiner, you know it will end in -e or -en. From the above table, you
can see that if the noun is in the dative or genitive, or if it is in the plural, the adjective ending will
be -en. If the noun is in the nominative singular, the adjective ending will be -e. In the accusative
singular, masculine nouns will require an -en adjective ending, and neuter and feminine nouns will
require an -e adjective ending.
Nominative
Pl
-er (der)
-es (das)
-e (die)
-e (die)
Accusative
-en (den)
-es (das)
-e (die)
-e (die)
Dative
-em (dem)
-em (dem)
-er (der)
-en (den)
Genitive
-en (des)
-en (des)
-er (der)
-er (der)
Since you can figure out the adjective ending in each case by figuring out what the form of
der/das/die would be as described above, you don't need to memorize this table of endings, and
indeed the point of learning adjective endings with this method is not to have to memorize this
table, but it is given here for completeness' sake.
Note the exception to the rule described in this section for the Masculine and Neuter Genitive, but
note also that you will almost never come across an adjective in the Masculine or Neuter Genitive
without a determiner.
Examples
1. Ich spiele gern mit klein___, s___ Babys.
There is no determiner present here. If you were to put in a form of der/das/die, it would be "den" in this
case, since "mit" requires the dative, and the babies are plural, and the dative plural form of der/das/die is
"den" [==> Ich spiele gern mit den klein___, s___ Babys].
==> The adjective ending is -en: Ich spiele gern mit kleinen, sen Babys.
1a. Ich spiele gern mit einem klein___, s___ Baby.
There is a determiner present here: "einem," an ein-word with an ending. ==> The adjective ending will be
-e or -en. In this case, we are in the dative,
==> the adjective ending will be -en: Ich spiele gern mit einem kleinen sen Baby. [Same ending as in
the previous example, but for a different reason.]
1b. Sie spielt gern mit ihrem klein___, s___ Baby.
There is a determiner present here: "ihrem," an ein-word with an ending. ==> as above,
==> the adjective ending will be -en: Sie spielt gern mit ihrem kleinen sen Baby.
2. Wir lieben klein___ Babys.
There is no determiner present here. If you were to put in a form of der/das/die, it would be "die" in this
case, since the babies are in the accusative (we love them, i.e. they are the object of the verb "lieben"),
and they are plural, and the accusative plural form of der/das/die is "die" [==> Wir lieben die klein___
Babys].
==> The adjective ending is -e: Wir lieben kleine Babys.
2a. Wir lieben die klein___ Babys.
There is a determiner present here: "die." ==> The adjective ending will be -e or -en. In this case, we are
in the plural,
==> the adjective ending will be -en: Wir lieben die kleinen Babys.
2b. Wir lieben unsere klein___ Babys.
There is a determiner present here: "unsere," an ein-word with an ending. ==> as above, we are in the
plural,
==> the adjective ending will be -en: Wir lieben unsere kleinen Babys.
3. Sie isst frisch___ Brot.
There is no determiner present here. If you were to put in a form of der/das/die, it would be "das" in this
case [==> Sie isst das frisch___ Brot].
==> The adjective ending is -es: Sie isst frisches Brot.
3a. Sie isst das frisch___ Brot.
There is a determiner present here: "das." ==> The adjective ending will be -e or -en. In this case, we are
Notes
If there is more than one adjective preceding a noun, they will all take the same ending.
An der Michigan State University studieren viele se kleine Kinder. Die Michigan State
Studentin liest ein lustiges altes Buch von Dr. Seuss.
If the adjective does not precede the noun, it takes no ending!
This happens when the adjective follows the "linking verbs" sein, werden [=to become] and
bleiben [=to stay], as in the examples below. Adjectives following the verbs sein, werden
and bleiben are called predicate adjectives, as opposed to attributive adjectives, which
precede the noun they describe and take adjective endings.
Examples of predicate adjectives: Das Bett ist warm. Der Mann wird alt. Michigan
bleibt [=stays] kalt.
Thinking about whether the adjective precedes the noun will also help you avoid the
temptation to give adjective endings to adverbs, such as "schnell" in the sentence "Der
Hund rennt schnell." [Note that there is nothing absolute about "schnell" that makes it an
adverb; as with most adjectives in German, "schnell" can be an adjective or an adverb
depending on its function in the sentence. ==> e.g. in the sentence "Der schnelle Hund
fngt die Katze," "schnell" is an adjective.]
There are, however, exceptions where the adjective takes an ending even though it does
not precede a noun; in particular, adjective nouns (see the following section), and the
superlative form "am ___sten," e.g. "Die Deutschstudenten sind am intelligentesten" & "Die
Franzsischstudenten sind am hilflosesten."
Ein-word endings are not the same as adjective endings! Click here to review the ein-word
endings.
In particular, if you are writing a sentence with an ein-word followed by an adjective, you
can know you are making a mistake if you are giving them both an -er, -es or -em ending:
Das ist einer netter Mann should be Das ist ein netter Mann; Ich mchte eines schnelles
Auto should be Ich mchte ein schnelles Auto.
On the other hand, it is possible for them both to end in -e (feminine nominative or
accusative), or for them both to end in -en (masculine accusative and dative plural): Das ist
eine nette Frau; Ich kenne eine nette Frau; Ich kenne einen netten Mann [masc. acc.]; Ich
fahre mit meinen guten Freunden [Dat. Pl.] in die Schweiz.
There are a few special cases:
Viel and wenig take no adjective endings in the singular when they are not preceded by a
determiner (which they usually aren't): "Ich habe viel Zeit und viel Geld, aber wenig
Schokolade." [But: Wo ist das viele Geld, das ich dir gegeben hatte?"] They take regular
adjective endings in the plural: "Ich habe viele Elvispuppen."
Hoch drops the "c" and adjectives ending in -el or -er drop their final "e" when they take
adjective endings.
hoch ==> hohe Preise, ein hoher Berg, teuer ==> teure Bcher, dunkel [=dark] ==> ein
dunkles Zimmer
Some adjectives never take endings, e.g. prima [=great], lila [=purple], rosa [=pink]
Das war ein prima Konzert; Was kostet die lila Hose?; Die Franzsischstudenten
tragen lila Schuhe mit rosa Strmpfen.
employee
civil servant
der/die Bekannte
acquaintance
der/die Deutsche
German person
der/die Erwachsene
adult
der/die Fremde
stranger
der/die Jugendliche
der/die Kriminelle
criminal
der/die Tote
dead person
der/die Verlobte
fianc(e)
der/die Verwandte
relative
der/die Vorgesetzte
supervisor, superior