A1 · Adjectives
Adjectives after sein
the half with no endings
After sein, werden and bleiben an adjective never changes — so learn this position first.
An adjective that stands after the verb rather than in front of a noun takes no ending at all, in any gender, any number and any case: Der Mann ist groß, die Frau ist groß, die Kinder sind groß.
This is worth a topic of its own precisely because it is easy. It means a beginner can use every adjective they know, correctly, from the first week, and postpone the endings until the cases are secure. Trying to learn the endings before the cases are solid is trying to learn a table whose columns you cannot yet identify.
The same zero ending appears with an adverb use: Er läuft schnell. German does not add anything to make an adjective into an adverb — no equivalent of English -ly — so schnell is both "quick" and "quickly". That is one more thing German asks less of than English.
Die Form
| masculine | Der Mantel ist neu. |
| feminine | Die Jacke ist neu. |
| neuter | Das Hemd ist neu. |
| plural | Die Schuhe sind neu. |
| as an adverb | Er fährt schnell. |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
After sein, werden and bleiben an adjective takes no ending.
Das Wetter wird besser.The weather is getting better.
The same form serves as the adverb. There is no -ly.
Sie spricht sehr gut Deutsch.She speaks German very well.
sehr, ziemlich, ganz and zu stand in front of the adjective and change nothing about it.
Der Kaffee ist zu heiß.The coffee is too hot.
finden takes an adjective without an ending too, after an accusative object.
Ich finde den Film gut.I think the film is good.
Genauer hingesehen
Why German has no -ly
English marks adverbs with -ly and German marks them with nothing, which means the same word does both jobs and the position in the sentence says which. Ein schnelles Auto is a fast car; er fährt schnell is he drives fast — and English does the same in that second example, since "fast" has no -ly form either.
The practical consequence is a small piece of freedom. Any adjective you know can be used as an adverb without being changed, which is more than English allows, where "friendly" and "lively" cannot become adverbs at all without a paraphrase.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
-
the adjective is used as a noun
it takes the endings of an adjective and a capital letter: der Alte, eine Deutsche, das Beste.
Das ist das Beste daran.That is the best thing about it.
It is still an adjective grammatically — the noun it was attached to has simply been left out.
-
the adjective is a colour used as a fixed foreign word — rosa, lila, beige, orange
it takes no ending in front of a noun either.
ein rosa Hemd, eine lila Jackea pink shirt, a purple jacket
These arrived as nouns from other languages and never joined the German adjective system.
Woran man es erkennt
- ist
- sind
- wird
- bleibt
- sehr
- zu
- ganz
- ziemlich
Beispielsätze
Die Wohnung ist zu teuer.The flat is too expensive.
Das Essen war ausgezeichnet.The food was excellent.
Er bleibt ruhig.He stays calm.
Sie fährt vorsichtig.She drives carefully.
Ich finde das interessant.I find that interesting.
Noch 8 Beispielsätze
Der Film war ziemlich lang.The film was rather long.
Bist du müde?Are you tired?
Das wird schwierig.That is going to be difficult.
Sie ist sehr freundlich.She is very friendly.
Die Suppe schmeckt gut.The soup tastes good.
Er hat laut gelacht.He laughed loudly.
Das ist mir zu kompliziert.That is too complicated for me.
Bleib bitte ruhig.Please stay calm.
Besonderheiten (2)
-
Adjectives that only go after the verb
A few German adjectives cannot stand in front of a noun at all: <z>schuld</z>, <z>pleite</z>, <z>quitt</z>, <z>egal</z>. They are used only after <z>sein</z> and take no ending because they never get into the position where one would be needed. English has the same set — <z>afraid</z>, <z>asleep</z>, <z>alone</z> — which cannot go in front of a noun either.
Das ist mir egal.I don't mind.
-
Comparison works in this position too
The comparative and superlative can stand after <z>sein</z>, and the superlative then takes the fixed form <z>am ...sten</z>: <z>Dieser Weg ist am kürzesten</z>. That form exists only in this position — in front of a noun the superlative takes an article and an ordinary ending instead.
Dieser Weg ist am kürzesten.This route is the shortest.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
Once the endings have been learned they start appearing where they do not belong, and this is where they do not belong. The position after sein is the one place in German adjective use with no ending at all. The rule is easier to hold as a picture than as a rule: an ending only appears when the adjective is standing in front of a noun, holding its place.
No noun after it, no ending on it.
Jetzt selbst
5 Aufgaben zu diesem Thema. Die Antworten werden im Browser geprüft; nichts davon verlässt Ihr Gerät.