Adjectives are used to describe a noun, as in for example "the
white hat" or "the small country". You will find some
commonly used adjectives in the table below:
| German |
|
English |
|
German |
|
English |
| gut |
= |
good, right |
|
schlecht |
= |
bad |
| schön |
= |
pretty |
|
hesslich |
= |
ugly |
| gross |
= |
big |
|
klein |
= |
small |
| hoch |
= |
high |
|
niedrig |
= |
low |
| lang |
= |
long, tall |
|
kurz |
= |
short |
If an adjective is used together with a noun, the actual form of the
adjective might change. In the case of a definite article, the adjective
is placed between the article and the noun. Furthermore, a suffix
is added to the adjective. The suffix which is used depends on gender and case. The matrix below shows all suffixes for each gender and
case:
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominative |
-e |
-e |
-e |
-en |
| Genetive |
-en |
-en |
-en |
-en |
| Dative |
-en |
-en |
-en |
-en |
| Accusative |
-en |
-e |
-e |
-en |
For example (all in nominative):
| German |
|
English |
|
German |
|
English |
| gut |
= |
good, right |
|
Die gute Richtung. |
= |
The right direction. |
| schön |
= |
pretty |
|
Das schöne Mädchen. |
= |
The pretty girl. |
| groß |
= |
big |
|
Die große Stadt. |
= |
The big city. |
| hoch |
= |
high |
|
Die hohen Bergen. |
= |
The high mountains. |
| lang |
= |
long, tall |
|
Die langen Reise. |
= |
The long trips. |
In the case of an indefinite article ein/eine, all adjectives are conjugated according to the below matrix:
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominative |
-er |
-es |
-em |
-en |
| Genetive |
-e |
-er |
-er |
-e |
| Dative |
-e |
-es |
-em |
-e |
| Accusative |
-en |
-en |
-en |
-en |
For example:
| German |
|
English |
|
German |
|
English |
| gut |
= |
good |
|
Eine gute Richtung. |
= |
A right direction. |
| schön |
= |
pretty |
|
Ein schönes Mädchen. |
= |
A pretty girl. |
| groß |
= |
big |
|
Eine große Stadt. |
= |
A big city. |
| hoch |
= |
high |
|
Ein hoher Berg. |
= |
A high mountain. |
| lang |
= |
long, tall |
|
Eine lange Reise. |
= |
A long trip. |
This rule is also applied when the noun is used without an article. For
example:
| German |
|
English |
| Leckere Kaffee! |
= |
Tasty coffee! |
| Gute Reise! |
= |
(Have a) good trip! |
| In Bayern gibt es schöne Gebirge. |
= |
There are beautiful mountains in Bavaria. |
When an adjective is placed at the end of the scentence, such as in
"the hat is white" or "the villages are beautiful", the
adjective used remains unchanged. Furthermore, the adjective is placed
after the verb. For example:
| Dies ist leckere Kaffee (This is tasty coffee) |
but |
Diese Kaffee ist lecker (This coffe is tasty) |
| Die gute Reise (The good trip) |
but |
Die Reise war gut (The trip was good) |