Interrogative and exclamatory adjectives in German
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The interrogative and exclamatory adjectives are used in combination with a noun, either to ask something specific about the noun, or to emphasize it.
There are two different constructions of it: 'welch' and 'was für'. These adjectives stand right before the noun.
For example:
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The special form of 'welch-' is very often used in the expression 'welch ein' (what a) and sometimes stand before attributive adjectives.
The adjective 'welch-' can be used as an interrogative or exclamatory adjective.
To use 'welch-' as an interrogative adjective, it needs to be declined in order to fit to noun. The interrogatives are often used to ask question and to get special information about the noun.
For example:
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | welcher | welche | welches | welche |
Accusative | welchen | welche | welches | welche |
Dative | welchem | welcher | welchem | welchen |
Genitive | welches | welcher | welches | welcher |
By using an exclamatory adjective you don't need to decline anything. Just use the word stem on his own.
In the following table you can see two different ways to use sentences, while the right one uses the exclamatory 'welch'.
Without 'welch' | With 'welch' |
---|---|
Wie schön diese Reise ist! (How wonderful this journey is!) | Welch eine schöne Reise! (What a wonderful journey!) |
Er ist so ein kluger Mann! (He is such an intelligent guy!) | Welch kluger Mann er ist! (What an intelligent guy he is!) |
Das war eine unterwartete Überraschung! (This was an unexpected surprise!) | Welch unerwartete Überraschung! (What an unexpected surprise!) |
As you can see, the exclamatory sentences using the 'welch' construction are very short and emphasize the adjective even more.
The interrogative adjective 'was für' is even more used than the construction of 'welch'. In the singular, the sentence is used with the indefinite article 'ein' that takes adjective endings, depending on the grammatical use of the noun in the sentence. In plural, the indefinite article 'ein' is omitted and the construction therefore is only 'was für'.
The construction is often use to ask questions about certain persons, objects or processes.
For example:
Was für einen Kaffee hättest Du gerne? (What kind of coffee would you like to have?)
Was für Autos fahrt ihr? (What kind of cars do you drive?)
Is it also possible to use this adjective to ask a question. To do so, the constructions have to take adjective endigs.
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | was für ein(er) | was für eine | was für ein(es) | was für |
Accusative | was für einen | was für eine | was für ein(es) | was für |
Dative | was für einem | was für einer | was für ein(em) | was für |
Genitive | was für eines | was für einer | was für eines | was für |
Of course, the construction 'was für (ein-)' can also be used as an exclamatory adjective. This is used to emphasize the noun and its characteristics.
Singular | Plural |
---|---|
Was für ein schönes Haus! (What a beatiful house!) | Was für schöne Häuser! (What beatiful houses!) |
Was für eine tolle Überraschung! (What a nice surprise!) | Was für tolle Überraschungen! (What nice surprises!) |
Was für ein leckerer Keks! (What a tasty cookie!) | Was für leckere Kekse! (What tasty cookies!) |
Keep in mind, that the indirect article 'ein' has to be declined in order to fit to the related noun. In plural cases the 'ein-' is omitted.
The difference between interrogative and exclamatory adjectives and pronouns is simple. The interrogative adjective is always used in combination with a noun and is emphasizing it or asking for something we don't know. The pronoun on the other side can stand alone.
Sentence with adjective | Sentence with pronoun |
---|---|
Welche Lunch-Box ist deine? (Which lunch-box is yours?) | Welche ist deine? (Which one is yours?) |
Welche Farbe sieht besser aus? (Which colour looks better?) | Was könnte ich dir zum Geburtstag schenken? (What should I buy you for your birthday?) |
In the second example, 'welche' is an interrogative adjective, because it refers to the noun 'Farbe'. In the other sentence 'was' is an interrogative pronoun, because it stands without a noun.
To get a deeper understanding of words used as interrogative pronouns, have a look at the chapter about it.
Fill in the missing interrogative and exclamantory adjectives. Watch out for the right spelling and declension! Use the right form of the construction that is in brackets.
Recap: Those adjectives are always used in direct combination with a noun. The most often used constructions are 'welch-' and 'was für (ein)'.
Example: Welcher (welch-) Mantel gehört Paul? (Which coat is Pauls?)
1. (welch-) Material benutzt du für den Schal? (Which material do you use for the scarf?)
2. (was für (ein-)) hübsches Kind! (What a beautiful child!)
3. (welch-) Namen gebt ihr eurer Tochter? (What name do you give to your daughter?)
4. (welch-) Team spielte am Wochenende am besten? (Which team played best on the weekend?)
5. (was für (ein-)) Chaos! (What a mess!)
6. (welch-) Rezepte kannst du mir empfehlen? (Which receipts can you recommend to me?)
7. Für (was für (ein-)) Urlaub habt ihr euch entschieden? (For what kind of vacation did you decide?)
8. (was für (ein-)) leckerer Kuchen! (What a tasty cake!)
9. (welch-) Hausaufgaben haben wir bekommen? (Which homework did we get?)
10. (welch-) Programm schaust du im Fernsehen? (What program are you watching in TV?)
Fill in the missing interrogative and exclamantory adjectives. Watch out for the right spelling and declension! Use the right form of the construction that is in brackets.
Recap: Those adjectives are always used in direct combination with a noun. The most often used constructions are 'welch-' and 'was für (ein)'.
Example: Welcher (welch-) Mantel gehört Paul? (Which coat is Pauls?)
1. (welch-) Material benutzt du für den Schal? (Which material do you use for the scarf?)
2. (was für (ein-)) hübsches Kind! (What a beautiful child!)
3. (welch-) Namen gebt ihr eurer Tochter? (What name do you give to your daughter?)
4. (welch-) Team spielte am Wochenende am besten? (Which team played best on the weekend?)
5. (was für (ein-)) Chaos! (What a mess!)
6. (welch-) Rezepte kannst du mir empfehlen? (Which receipts can you recommend to me?)
7. Für (was für (ein-)) Urlaub habt ihr euch entschieden? (For what kind of vacation did you decide?)
8. (was für (ein-)) leckerer Kuchen! (What a tasty cake!)
9. (welch-) Hausaufgaben haben wir bekommen? (Which homework did we get?)
10. (welch-) Programm schaust du im Fernsehen? (What program are you watching in TV?)
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Hello everyone and a big warm welcome to all the fellow language learners,
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Hello!
Are you worried that you can't tackle the big journey of learning Russian or English? I would be really happy to help you and do my best to be your guide on that path!
I have a bachelor's degree with honors in teaching foreign languages and linguistics and I have been working as a tutor for 3 years.
With me it doesn't matter, where you are coming from, what your language level is and why you decided to pick up a language. Be sure that at every lesson I will create a very friendly and supportive a friendly environment with individual materials for your needs.
Your goals will be my goals. If you have any doubts, feel free to book a trial lesson (it's free anyway) and I will be happy to answer to all your questions.
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This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
Katsiaryna S.
Thank you so much!
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Hello,
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I also teach English for beginners and advanced beginners.
My teaching methodes are totally based on the level of my student. If somebody is already advanced, I focus on communication and pronunciation. We will arrange on a topic and talk and discuss in the lesson about it.
If my student is a beginner, I'm gonna start with the basics of the German language. (the articles, the verb "to be", the pronouns...)
The learning material is all made by myself, because I'm a German teacher, so that means, I already got lots of working sheets for many topics. I send these to my student via e-mail or put it directly on the coLanguage homepage.
I'm available from Monday to Thursday between 5pm and 08:00 pm. For the weekend it's the best to just send me a request.
Of course is a free trial lesson (it's about 20 minutes) possible.
I'm happy to teach you :-)
See you soon! Nina
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Sehr Gut lesson. We read some german news, worked on konjugations. Learned new vocab and really worked on pronunciation.
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Hello =)
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Hello everyone and a big warm welcome to all the fellow language learners,
My name is Katerina, I’m a native Russian speaker and a foreign language teacher from St Petersburg, Russia. I’ve always been addicted to learning foreign languages, be it English, German, Spanish, Turkish or Arabic, so turning my passion into my job was just a matter of time. I have a Master’s degree in linguistics which taught me to understand the way the mechanism of a language works and thus to help my students see the logics behind the grammar rules. Being a constant language learner enables me to see the process from both sides and to predict the difficulties my students might face. The fact that I’m not a native speaker of English or German means I’ve been through exactly the same language-learning journey you’re about to take, and thanks to my personal experience as a student, I can make this road smooth for you.
I've had students of all ages, from pre-school kids to senior generation, and I feel comfortable working with both beginners and those who are eager to take their learning process to a new level. In my classes I encourage you to talk in the language we’re studying as much as possible, putting every single bit of knowledge into practice right away. If you’re a Russian-learner, I’d be glad to prove it to you that you can absolutely nail my mother-tongue - and yes, you’ll be able to make a small talk in Russian by the end of the first class even if you’re an absolute beginner! We’ll be focusing on the topics that are most relevant to your goals, while discovering the language and getting to know more about the culture of people who speak it.
I offer a short free trial class, for us to give each other a smile and discuss our teaching pattern, in order to ajust it to your goals and make our lessons the bee's knees :) See you soon!
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Katja is a great teacher! She really pushes her students to speak in as much German as they can and the materials she provides are perfectly suited for her students learning goals! I enjoy working with her very much and look forward to our weekly lessons! She has helped me learn many German phrases and vocabulary that I can use immediately.
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Hello!
Are you worried that you can't tackle the big journey of learning Russian or English? I would be really happy to help you and do my best to be your guide on that path!
I have a bachelor's degree with honors in teaching foreign languages and linguistics and I have been working as a tutor for 3 years.
With me it doesn't matter, where you are coming from, what your language level is and why you decided to pick up a language. Be sure that at every lesson I will create a very friendly and supportive a friendly environment with individual materials for your needs.
Your goals will be my goals. If you have any doubts, feel free to book a trial lesson (it's free anyway) and I will be happy to answer to all your questions.
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Katya is a Russian/English teacher who's had experience with beginners in the past. So if you're looking to start learning Russian this is a good option to do so. She has a large variety of learning materials including games and grammar practice and seems to know how to communicate online.
This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
Katsiaryna S.
Thank you so much!
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Hello,
my name is Nina, I'm from Austria and I also lived for one year and a half in Canada. I worked there as a German Teacher for adults, so I speak German, English and French.
I also teach English for beginners and advanced beginners.
My teaching methodes are totally based on the level of my student. If somebody is already advanced, I focus on communication and pronunciation. We will arrange on a topic and talk and discuss in the lesson about it.
If my student is a beginner, I'm gonna start with the basics of the German language. (the articles, the verb "to be", the pronouns...)
The learning material is all made by myself, because I'm a German teacher, so that means, I already got lots of working sheets for many topics. I send these to my student via e-mail or put it directly on the coLanguage homepage.
I'm available from Monday to Thursday between 5pm and 08:00 pm. For the weekend it's the best to just send me a request.
Of course is a free trial lesson (it's about 20 minutes) possible.
I'm happy to teach you :-)
See you soon! Nina
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Sehr Gut lesson. We read some german news, worked on konjugations. Learned new vocab and really worked on pronunciation.
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I’m from France but I’m living in Brazil for 3 years.
I love my job which is to teach french as a professional language for people to use in business, at university or for an immigration project.
I can also prepare you for french certifications ( DELF, DALF, TCF , TEF etc. ).
Please, enter in contact for any questions :)
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Marine is an amazing teacher, she is direct and focused at all times. She has a strong teaching background and it shows. I have been taking lessons for half a year with her and can't recommend her highly enough.
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