THE GERMAN ADJECTIVE: positive and negative forms

An adjective is a word that describes, identifies, qualifies or modifies a noun or a pronoun. German adjectives always begin with a small letter within a sentence. They can either be naturally occurring or derivatives of some nouns and verbs and vice versa. Those that are derivatives of German verbs often times end with “-t” or “-end” while those that are derived from nouns usually have the suffix “-lich” or “-ig” as well as a changed vowel to the possible umlaut. See examples below;

Some other adjectives can also be obtained from nouns that end with “-keit” or “-heit” and vice versa. These suffixes represent the suffixes “-cy and -sy”, “-ty” or “-ness” in english. Some examples are listed below…

Participial adjectives

Likewise, other adjectives can be obtained from the Partizip I and Partizip II of german verbs. These verb-forms are simply just declined with the adjective endings when being used.

Categories of adjectives

The two categories of adjectives are;

• Regular
• Irregular

Regular adjectives in German

Regular adjectives are those adjectives that don’t change in their comparative and superlative forms. Some examples of regular adjectives are listed below;

Irregular adjectives in German

Irregular adjectives on the other hand have comparative and superlative forms that are totally different. They are mostly those one-syllabic adjectives with the monophthong vowels “a, o, u”. These vowels are changed to the umlaut in the comparative and superlative forms. Examples are;

How to decline German adjectives

A German adjective may or may not be declined. When they are placed in front of a noun, they must have an end declension but when they are used as verb complement or without a noun, then they don’t require any declension. This declension of german adjectives is dependent on four factors;

• The gender of the noun
• The grammatical case
• The category of the preceding article
• The absence of an article

These four categories have been combined in the table below for easy understanding.

**Note that the adjective endings for indefinite, negation and possessive articles are the same.

How to complement German adjectives with verbs

These verbs are often used without a direct object and still make sense. examples. are;

usage;

• Du siehst gut in dieser Hose aus.—— you look good in this trouser.
• Wir finde unser Haus schön.—— we find our house beautiful.
• Mara is müde.—— Mara is tired.
• Das Radio wirkt nicht gut.—— the radio does not work well.
• Das Essen schmeckt lecker.—— the food tastes delicious.

Some adjectives don’t follow the normal rules of adjectives declension. They are slightly modified if at all they would be declined. The following rules must then be adhered to.

1. Adjectives that end with “-e” don’t require another “-e” when declining them. E.g böse
2. Adjectives that end with “-el” or “-er” lose their preceding “-e” before they are declined. E.g dunkel, teuer
3. Adjectives that end with “-a” are never declined. E.g rosa, lila
4. Adjectives that end with “-s” lose their “s” before they are declined. E.g rechts

Usage;

• Der böse Mann geht jetzt nach Hause.—— The wicked man is going home now.
• Ich mag dunkle Farben.—— I like dark colours.
• Meine Schwester hat den teuren Rock gekauft.—— my sister has bought the expensive skirt.
• Wieso hat deine kleine Nichte ihren rechten Arm gebrochen?—— how come your little niece broke her right arm?
• Sara möchte ihren süßen Mutter eine rosa Tasche kaufen.—— Sara would like to buy a pink bag for her sweet mother.

Adjectives as substantive nouns

As earlier mentioned, adjectives can be naturally occurring or derivatives of some nouns or verbs. Some of these naturally occurring and derived adjectives of the Partizip I and Partizip II of german verbs can also be used as masculine and feminine nouns. These adjectives when used as nouns are termed substantive nouns. They must be capitalized at the initials like every other German noun and then declined to the imaginary noun they are supposedly standing in for. For example;

Usage;

• Eine meiner Freundinnen hat einen Deutschen geheiratet.—— one of my friends got married to a german.
• Diese Angestellte verdient nicht so viel Geld.—— That employee does not earn so much money.
• Ich schenke oft den Armen Kleidungen, die ich nicht mehr nutze.—— I often give clothes that I don’t use anymore to the poor.

When adjectives come directly after certain indefinite pronouns such as nichts and etwas, they become neuter nouns with their initial letters capitalized and the suffix “-es” added. For example:

• Kannst du mir etwas Interessantes sagen.—— can you please tell me something interesting.
• Wir haben noch nichts Leckeres gegessen.—— we still haven’t eaten anything delicious.