Declension of German adjectives
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In German there are different types of adjectives. While one type needs to be declined in order to fit into the sentence, the other ones stay in their normal form. This chapter deals with the conjugation of German attributive adjectives.
In contrast to the attributive adjectives, the predicative adjectives follow the noun in a sentence and therefore don't need to be declined.
Because attributive adjectives come between the article of a noun and the noun itself, it is necessary to decline the adjective to adapt it to the noun.
Have a look at the chapter about different types of adjectives in German to get a better idea of their differences.
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In order to determine the right form of declension you need to have a at these characteristics:
To find the right form of declension afterwards, you mainly should have a look at the article:
The weak declension is used, an definite article like der, die, das, die (plural) refers to the noun of a sentence. In this case, the article gives enough information about the number, gender and case of the noun.
Always keep in mind, that the article has to be declined as well. To learn more about it, have a look at the chapter about definite german articles.
weak declension | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | der liebe Vater | die liebe Mutter | das liebe Kind | die lieben Kinder |
Accusative | den lieben Vater | die liebe Mutter | das liebe Kind | die lieben Kinder |
Dative | dem lieben Vater | der lieben Mutter | dem lieben Kind | den lieben Kindern |
Genitive | des lieben Vaters | der lieben Mutter | des lieben Kindes | der lieben Kinder |
In this case the declension is very easy, since the adjective can only have the endings '-e' or '-en'.
For more detailed information about the four german cases have a look at the special chapter about it.
The mixed declension is used, if:
comes before the adjective and the noun of a sentence.
Mixed declension | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | ein lieber Vater | eine liebe Mutter | ein liebes Kind | keine lieben Kinder |
Accusative | einen lieben Vater | eine liebe Mutter | ein liebes Kind | keine lieben Kinder |
Dative | einem lieben Vater | einer lieben Mutter | einem lieben Kind | keinen lieben Kindern |
Genitive | eines lieben Vaters | einer lieben Mutter | eines lieben Kindes | keiner lieben Kinder |
The strong declension is used when no definite or indefinite article comes before the noun. When and when not you use articles in German is explained in another chapter.
There are some exeptions to this rule. If a pronoun (e.g. dergleichen, dessen, wessen etc.) precedes the adjective you should also use the strong declension.
strong declension | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | lieber Vater | liebe Mutter | liebes Kind | liebe Kinder |
Accusative | lieben Vater | liebe Mutter | liebes Kind | liebe Kinder |
Dative | liebem Vater | lieber Mutter | liebem Kinde | lieben Kindern |
Genitive | lieben Vaters | lieber Mutter | lieben Kindes | lieber Kinder |
We might need to change the appearance and spelling of the adjective in order to wisely insert it into a sentence. The same thing might be necessary if prefixes and suffixes, or the different forms of comparative and superlative will be used. Then you always have to watch the right spelling of the words.
Adjective and ending | Example |
---|---|
voll + ig = völlig (completely) | völlig ausverkauft (completely sold out) |
krank + lich = kränklich (sikish) | das kränkliche Mädchen (the sikish girl) |
schwarz + lich = schwärzlich (blackish) | das schwärzliche Kleid (the blackish dress) |
Adjective | Comparative | Superlative |
---|---|---|
alt | älter | am ältesten |
klug | klüger | am klügsten |
schwach | schwächer | am schwächsten |
teuer | teurer | am teuersten |
Fill in the missing adjectives with the right declension.
1. Ein (hilfsbereit) Kollege bietet seinen (überfordert) Kollegen seine Unterstützung an.
(A helpful colleague offers the overwhelmed coworker his support)
2. Ein (hellblau) T-Shirt passt nicht zu einer (dunkelgrün) Tasche.
(A light blue T-Shirt doesn't fit to a dark green purse)
3. Eine (reich) Frau hat keine (finanziell) Probleme.
(A rich woman has no financial problems)
4. Ein (jung) Mann fährt mit einem (rot) Fahrrad davon.
(A young man drives aways with a red bike)
5. Ein (hübsch) Mädchen hat meine (jung), (hübsch) Schwester zu sich eingeladen
(A pretty girl invited my younger, prettier sister)
Fill in the missing declension of the adjectives according to nouns without articles.
1. Auf Flamme kochen. (klein)
(Cooking on small flame)
2. (frisch) Tomaten waschen und abtrocknen.
(Washing and drying fresh tomatoes)
3. (kalt) und (ungezuckert) Pfirsichtee ist ein erfrischendes Getränk für heiße Tage.
(Cold and unsweetened peach tea is a refreshing beverage for hot days)
4. (holzig) Enden des grünen Spargels entfernen.
(Removing the wooden end of green asparagus)
5. (kochend) Wasser hinzugeben.
(Adding boiling water)
6. (salzig) Wasser in den Topf gießen.
(Pouring salty water into the pot)
7. (gehackt) Zwiebel andünsten.
(Frying the chopped onions)
8. Bei (schwach) Hitze köcheln.
(Boiling on small heat)
9. (dick) Tomatenmark mit Brühe verdünnen.
(Dilluting the thick tomato paste with broth)
10. (dunkle) Schokolade in einen kleinen Topf schmelzen.
(Melting dark chocolate in a small pot)
Fill in the missing adjectives with the right declension.
1. Ein (hilfsbereit) Kollege bietet seinen (überfordert) Kollegen seine Unterstützung an.
(A helpful colleague offers the overwhelmed coworker his support)
2. Ein (hellblau) T-Shirt passt nicht zu einer (dunkelgrün) Tasche.
(A light blue T-Shirt doesn't fit to a dark green purse)
3. Eine (reich) Frau hat keine (finanziell) Probleme.
(A rich woman has no financial problems)
4. Ein (jung) Mann fährt mit einem (rot) Fahrrad davon.
(A young man drives aways with a red bike)
5. Ein (hübsch) Mädchen hat meine (jung), (hübsch) Schwester zu sich eingeladen
(A pretty girl invited my younger, prettier sister)
Fill in the missing declension of the adjectives according to nouns without articles.
1. Auf Flamme kochen. (klein)
(Cooking on small flame)
2. (frisch) Tomaten waschen und abtrocknen.
(Washing and drying fresh tomatoes)
3. (kalt) und (ungezuckert) Pfirsichtee ist ein erfrischendes Getränk für heiße Tage.
(Cold and unsweetened peach tea is a refreshing beverage for hot days)
4. (holzig) Enden des grünen Spargels entfernen.
(Removing the wooden end of green asparagus)
5. (kochend) Wasser hinzugeben.
(Adding boiling water)
6. (salzig) Wasser in den Topf gießen.
(Pouring salty water into the pot)
7. (gehackt) Zwiebel andünsten.
(Frying the chopped onions)
8. Bei (schwach) Hitze köcheln.
(Boiling on small heat)
9. (dick) Tomatenmark mit Brühe verdünnen.
(Dilluting the thick tomato paste with broth)
10. (dunkle) Schokolade in einen kleinen Topf schmelzen.
(Melting dark chocolate in a small pot)
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Hi!
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Hi!
My name is Krisztina! I’m a teacher of German and French with the corresponding qualifications. I've grown up in a bilingual family (Hungarian-German), so I speak both languages as a native language. I’ve been teaching for six years, so I’m able to estimate your needs, and to meet them. In my lessons, I recreat real life situations, so that you will be able to adapt yourselves to different circumstances. I’m a patient, positive and creative person, who is looking forward to see you in her lessons. So don’t hesitate to book a lesson with me.
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Hi, I am Christin!
After training as a pastry chef and studying business administration, I traveled a lot and discovered my interest in languages. To find out more about teaching languages, I decided on further training at the Goethe Institute and completed it. During the Goethe Institute "Learn to teach German" course I was able to give individual language lessons and actively support the examination preparation for the Goethe certificate.
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Christin is a great teacher. She is very helpful and flexible, and her lessons are always varied and interesting. I'd recommend her to everyone who'd like to learn German!
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I am a 29 year old female, native English speaker from Cape Town, South Africa.
I am a fun, enthusiastic and creative individual who has over 10 years of experience in teaching .I have taught in various parts of the world, South Africa, Thailand, Columbia, Peru, Europe and UK just to name a few. I have taught both children and adults. I am passionate about teaching and find inspiration in witnessing the growth students experience within my online classes.
I feel that my experience as an au-pair, home school teacher as well as home-room teacher at various schools and online has taught me the value of improvising, taking initiative and empowering young individuals to enable each child within my care to feel inspired and to know their own unique and individual strengths. I feel that my training in psychology is truly something that has helped with every individual I have worked with. My biggest commitment as a teacher is to teach children and adults to know their worth and to instill confidence within each individual, so that they are able to realize their potential and feel encouraged to learn more.
I have found myself wishing to broaden my experience in teaching and I am currently in the position where I’m looking for new challenges in the field, and ultimately self-development. I feel that teaching online is the perfect position that will allow me to contribute to the lives of students I teach and something that will bring a great amount of reward in my life as well as that of the individuals I teach.
I am patient and make sure each student understands the concepts before moving forward.My lessons are fun and engaging and allow students opportunity to practice what they have learnt. Zoom or Skype is used and customized lessons can be planned based on the individuals level and needs. I am passionate about educating and ensuring students reach their full potential. I look forward to meeting you soon.
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Sherri is a South African English teacher who is ready to meet your objectives. She has a fun set up with a lot of learning materials especially fun ones for kids! She's had experience with different age groups so she can really adapt to different students.
This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
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