Predicative: He is lucky.
Attributive: John is a lucky guy.
Adjectives work the same way in German, with the exception of requiring an ending when used attributively:
The pattern illustrated above shows a declined adjective in the dative case. How-ever, declined adjectives occur in all cases (nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive).
Predicative: Sie ist klug. She is smart.
Attributive: Tina ist eine kluge Frau. Tina is a smart woman.
When an adjective ending is required, the nominative singular of all three genders and the accusative singular of the feminine and neuter indicate gender differently, depending upon whether the determiner used is a der-word or an ein-word:
With der-words, gender is shown in the determiner. With ein-words, gender is shown in the adjective. For example:
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Nominative:
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der alte Mann
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diese alte Frau
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jedes alte Haus
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Accusative:
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*
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diese alte Frau
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jedes alte Haus
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the old man
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this old woman
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each old house
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Nominative:
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ein alter Mann
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seine alte Frau
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kein altes Haus
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Accusative:
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*
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seine alte Frau
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kein altes Haus
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an old man
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his old wife
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no old house
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With both kinds of determiners, the adjective ending is always -en in the masculine accusative and throughout the dative and genitive with feminine and neuter nouns. In the plural, all adjectives with these determiners have an –en ending. For example:
The determiners alle (all) and beide (both) are exceptions. They are der-words but are only used in the plural. For example:
Unpreceded adjectives
There are times when a determiner does not precede an adjective. In such cases, the adjective will have the ending that would normally have been on an ein-word. This is true in both the singular and plural. Examples of unpreceded adjectives:
Nominative: kalter Kaffee kalte Suppe kaltes Eis kalte Finger
Accusative: kalten Kaffee kalte Suppe kaltes Eis kalte Finger
Dative: kaltem Kaffee kalter Suppe kaltem Eis kalten Fingern
Genitive: kalten Kaffees kalter Suppe kalten Eises kalter Finger
cold coffee cold soup cold ice cold fingers
Special mention must be made of three of the der-words: mancher, solcher, welcher. They can be used in two ways: (1) just like other der-words; and (2) in an undeclined form that requires the adjective that follows it to use the endings that are required with unpreceded adjectives. For example:
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Nominative:
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mancher gute Mann
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manch guter Mann
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Accusative:
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manchen guten Mann
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manch guten Mann
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Dative:
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manchem guten Mann
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manch gutem Mann
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Genitive:
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manches guten Mannes
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manch guten Mannes
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many a good man
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many a good man
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Nominative:
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welches neue Auto
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welch schöner Augenblick
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Accusative:
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welches neue Auto
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welch schönen Augenblick
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Dative:
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welchem neuen Auto
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welch schönem Augenblick
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Genitive:
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welches neuen Autos
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welch schönen Augenblicks
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which new car
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what a beautiful moment
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However, solcher as a der-word tends to be used in the plural, and in the singular it follows
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Nominative:
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solche alten Leute
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eine solche Bluse
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Accusative:
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solche alten Leute
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eine solche Bluse
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Dative:
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solchen alten Leuten
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einer solchen Bluse
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Genitive:
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solcher alten Leute
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einer solchen Bluse
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such old people
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such a blouse
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Just like the usage of manch, solch, and welch illustrated above, there are other occasions
when an adjective requires the same endings as in the previous examples. They occur with etwas, mehr, viel, wenig, and with numbers, and can be used in both singular and plural phrases. For example:
etwas schwarzer Marmor some black marble
mehr interessante Bücher more interesting books
viel amerikanisches Geld much American money
wenig heiße Tage few hot days
The declension for such phrases follows the pattern illustrated by manch guter Mann, above.
Certain determiners are used only in the plural. They identify quantities, and like the numbers cause adjectives to be declined like unpreceded adjectives. These determiners are einige, mehrere, viele, and wenige. You will notice that viele and wenige, although used in the same way as viel and wenig, decline, but the adjectives that follow viele and wenige still require the same endings as unpreceded adjectives. Some examples:
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Nominative:
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einige gute Kinder
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viele neue Schulen
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Accusative:
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einige gute Kinder
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viele neue Schulen
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Dative:
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einigen guten Kindern
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vielen neuen Schulen
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Genitive:
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einiger guter Kinder
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vieler neuer Schulen
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some good children
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many new schools
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Nominative:
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mehrere gute Kinder
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wenige neue Schulen
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Accusative:
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mehrere gute Kinder
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wenige neue Schulen
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Dative:
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mehreren guten Kindern
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wenigen neuen Schulen
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Genitive:
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mehrerer guter Kinder
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weniger neuer Schulen
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several good children
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few new schools
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Comparative and superlative
When comparing two people or things, the comparative form of an adjective is used. In general, a comparative is formed by adding -er to the adjective:
Positive Comparative
laut loud lauter louder
schnell fast schneller faster
interessant interesting interessanter more interesting
The conjunction als (than) can be added to make the comparison:
Superlatives used as predicate adjectives are formed by preceding them with the prepositional phrase am (an dem) and adding the suffix -sten:
Positive Superlative
laut loud am lautesten the loudest
schnell fast am schnellsten the fastest
interessant interesting am interessantesten the most interesting
Many adjectives that have an a, o, or u (called umlaut vowels) in their base form will require an umlaut in the comparative and superlative:
alt old älter older am ältesten the oldest
groß big größer bigger am größten the biggest
jung young jünger younger am jüngsten the youngest
Just as English has a few irregular forms in the comparative and superlative, so, too, does German.
Positive Comparative Superlative
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bald
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soon
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eher
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soonest
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am ehesten
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the soonest
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groß
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big
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größer
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bigger
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am größten
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the biggest
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gut
|
good
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besser
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better
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am besten
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the best
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hoch
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high
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höher
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higher
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am höchsten
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the highest
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nah
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near
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näher
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nearer
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am nächsten
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the nearest
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Another spelling concern arises with adjectives that end in -el, -en, and -er. In the compara-tive the -e- is usually dropped:
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dunkel
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dark
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dunkler
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darker
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trocken
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dry
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trockner
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drier
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teuer
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expensive
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teurer
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more expensive
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Comparatives and superlatives can be used in the same way as predicate adjectives:
When a comparative or superlative adjective is used attributively, it requires the same kinds
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Nominative:
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dieser längere Satz
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this longer sentence
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Accusative:
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die kürzesten Briefe
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the shortest letters
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Dative:
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einem größeren Problem
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a bigger problem
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Genitive:
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seiner besten Werke
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his best works
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Adjectives as nouns
Just about any adjective can be used as a noun in German. And when it is, it is capitalized, but it still functions as an adjective; that is, it still shows the appropriate number, gender, and case by its ending. For example:
Here are some adjectives and participles that commonly function as nouns:
Naturally, most nouns given above could be feminine or plural.
Sie will das Beste, was Sie haben. She wants the best one you have.
Ich habe nichts Neues gehört. I haven’t heard anything new.