ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS part1(§1-§9) – LEARN TO SPEAK GERMAN

SHORTCUT TO ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS part2(§10-§24)

SHORTCUT TO ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS part3(§25-§34)

SHORTCUT TO ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS part4(§35-§43)

§1 Adjectives and adverbs are descriptive words. Adjectives tell us more about nouns:
how big they are, how colorful, important, tasty, obtuse, and so on. Adverbs give more

information about verbs (how well someone sings, how high she flies, when they will
arrive, where the party will be), about adjectives (they’re unusually calm, incrediblyrich),

and even about other adverbs (he ran extremely fast).

§2 In Nouns §3 you read about der, die, and das as gender markers of nouns: der-nouns

are masculine, die-nouns are feminine, and das-nouns are neuter. Der, die, and das are

three of the forms of the definite article, the most important and useful adjective

in German. ‘Definite’ means ‘known, obvious, old information’, ‘the one we all know

about’. There is an indefinite article in German as well, expressing ‘new or unspecified

information’. (See Adjectives §8). The German definite article d-, with all its forms,

is an essential tool in the manipulation of the language. If the forms of d- are not handled

with precision, then communication will be severely inhibited and some grave

misunderstandings can occur. LEARN THESE FORMS!

§3 Der, die, and das identify masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns when used as the

subject of a sentence:
Der Kartoffelsalat kostet DM 2,20.
Die Fahrkarte ist nicht zu teuer.
Das Zimmer hat keine Dusche.
When a noun is the subject of a sentence, it appears in what is called the nominative
case. Der Kartoffelsalat, die Fahrkarte, and das Zimmer are all nominative forms. The
subject directs the action of a sentence and fits the verb ending (See Verbs §7). Nouns
that are not the subject of a sentence, but are identical with the subject, also appear in
the nominative case:

↓SUBJECT NOUN ↓PREDICATE NOUN
Ihre Mutter ist Universitätsprofessorin.
When the definite article is used in the plural, all nouns — regardless of gender — that
appear in the nominative case are identified by the article die:
der Paß: Bitte, wo sind die Pässe?
die Fahrkarte: Die Fahrkarten kosten DM 36,—.
das Hotel: Die Hotels in Frankfurt sind sehr elegant.
SUMMARY: definite articles in the nominative case
MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL
der die das die

§4 German nouns may appear in four different grammatical cases, according to their
sentence usage. For example, subject nouns or pronouns can act with the verb

to have a direct effect on objects in the rest of the sentence, the predicate.

These nouns in the predicate are direct objects, and almost without exception they

appear in the accusative case.

↓SUBJECT ↓DIRECT OBJECT
Meine Mutter kauft immer Schokolade mit Nüssen.
When a noun has a nonsubject function in a sentence, the form of its definite

article may change. Before feminine and neuter nouns in the accusative (direct object)

case, the definite articles die and das do not change. Before masculine nouns,

however, the definite article appears as den in the accusative.

Haben Sie den Kartoffelsalat?
Morgen kaufe ich die Fahrkarte nach Berlin.
Wir möchten das Zimmer für heute und morgen.
When the definite article is used in the accusative plural, it appears for all genders

in the form die:
  der Paß: Haben wir die Pässe?
  die Fahrkarte: Heute kaufe ich die Fahrkarten.
  das Hotel: Ich finde die Hotels in Salzburg sehr komfortabel.
SUMMARY: definite articles in the accusative case
MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL
den die das die
  NOTE: The accusative is used to express definite time. See Nouns §15.

§5 Sometimes a noun or pronoun is neither the subject of a verb nor its object, but rather a
beneficiary, or recipient, of the action in a sentence.

He bought the old horse some medicine.

the subject is ‘He’, the direct object is ‘medicine’, and the animal for which it was
bought, ‘the old horse’, is different from the subject. ‘The old horse’ is the one for which
the action is performed, and appears in the indirect object case, called the dative.

By no means does this example mean that ‘horse’ is always in the dative case, or that
‘medicine’ must always be an accusative. This action took place at the veterinarian’s
office. If ‘some medicine’ is stricken from the sentence, the meaning changes entirely:

He bought the old horse.

Now ‘He’, the subject, acted directly on ‘the old horse’, the accusative object

of the verb ‘bought’. This action took place at the sale barn.

A person hearing or reading a noun that appears in the dative case can tell immediately
what its function is by the form of the preceding article:
der Mann: Ich gebe dem Mann einen Reiseführer.
die Frau: Wir kaufen der Frau zwei Pfund Äpfel.
das Kind: Schenken wir dem Kind eine Modellbahn?
When the definite article precedes nouns in the dative plural, it has the form den,
regardless of the gender of the noun:
Bringen Sie den Männern eine Flasche Wein, den Frauen je ein
Liter Pils und den Kindern Kola oder Orangensaft

The dative is not used just as an indirect object case. Many prepositions govern the
dative case as well.
Gehen Sie mit der Frau da.
— Mit ihr?
Ja, mit ihr. Nicht mit dem Mann. Er ist ein Idiot.
— Gut, also mit ihr, nicht mit ihm.
SUMMARY: definite articles in the dative case
MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL
dem der dem den

§6 Another set of forms of the definite article shows that a noun is in possession of
something. That possession may be tangible, as in
the doctor’s children
or it may be intangible, as in
the end of the day.
In these examples, the nouns that show possession — the doctor and the

day — appear in the genitive case, also called the possessive case in English

grammar.The definite articles that precede genitive nouns have characteristic forms:

der Arzt: Der Sohn des Arztes wohnt in Salzburg.
die Tante: Die Kinder der Tante heißen Vetter.
das Hotel: Die Zimmer des Hotels sind wunderschön.
For an explanation of the -(e)s ending on genitive nouns, see Nouns §10.
When the definite article appears in the genitive plural, all genders have the form der:
der Computer: Der Preis der Computer ist zu hoch.
die Maus: Es ist unmöglich, eine der Mäuse zu fangen.
das Problem: Das war nur der Anfang der Probleme.
SUMMARY: definite articles in the genitive case
MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL
des der des der
NOTE: The genitive is used to express indefinite time. See Nouns §10.

§7 Definite articles in all cases, singular and plural
MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL
NOMINATIVE der die das die
GENITIVE des der des der
DATIVE dem der dem den
ACCUSATIVE den die das die
§8 Indefinite articles, forms of ein-, precede nouns that introduce new information or
describe any member of a category. They correspond to English ‘a’ or ‘an’,

as opposed to the definite article ‘the’. The paradigm of the indefinite article

bears a strong resemblance to that of the definite article (§7):
MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER
NOMINATIVE ein eine ein
GENITIVE eines einer eines
DATIVE einem einer einem
ACCUSATIVE einen eine ein
Note that ein– has no ending in the masculine and neuter nominative or in
the neuter accusative. Note also that, by definition, ein has no plural forms.
Moreover, the absence of an article in the plural signals an indefinite plural.
Plural endings do exist, however, for kein, the negative of ein:
Kein has singular forms also, since it negates singular nouns as well as plural ones.
These endings are the same as those for ein. As the negative of ein, kein has the
meaning ‘none, not any, -n’t . . . any’.
§9 Sometimes ein and kein follow nouns that have been used in a previous clause. Here

they are similar to ‘one’ and ‘none’ in English, and take on the function of pronouns.
Where did my pet turtles go? Here’s one!
Do you have some money? No, I don’t have any.
In these situations ein and kein add the endings that would be present if the nouns in
question were there:
Wo sind meine Schildkröten? Hier ist eine [Schildkröte]!
Haben Sie einen 10-Mark-Schein? Nein, ich habe keinen [Schein].
This principle applies even in those cases where ein and kein do not have endings
themselves, in the masculine nominative and the neuter nominative and accusative.
Here ein and kein borrow endings from the definite article, with eines shortened to eins:

↓ der Bleistift

MASCULINE NOMINATIVE: Wo ist ein Bleistift? Hier ist einer.

↓ das Auto

NEUTER ACCUSATIVE: Wer hat ein neues Auto? Ich habe eins.
Ein can also anticipate an understood noun in the German equivalent of ‘one of . . ’.
Here, too, ein borrows endings from the definite article if they are not already part of the
ein declension. The ‘of’ phrase is rendered either by von and the dative or by the
genitive:

↓ anticipates der Freund

Wer ist das? Das ist einer von meinen Freunden.
Das ist einer meiner Freunde.

↑genitive plural

↓ anticipates die Freundin

Das ist eine von meinen Freundinnen.
Das ist eine meiner Freundinnen.

↑genitive plural

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