German Grammar: Attributive Adjective

Add to Favorites
Tell a Friend
Contact Us

	GERMAN LANGUAGE FACTS

	German History

	German Statistics

	GERMAN PRONUNCIATION

	German Vowels

	German Easy Consonants

	German Difficult Consonants

	Stress and Accent Marks

	GERMAN GRAMMAR

	Articles

	Nouns

	Pronouns

	Prepositions

	Verbs

	GERMAN VOCABULARY

	GERMAN LANGUAGE TOOLS

	German Verb Conjugator

	German Language test

	German dictionaries
	LEARNING GERMAN

	German courses online

	German courses abroad

	TEACHING GERMAN

	Courses for teachers of german

	GERMAN CULTURE

	German Recipes / Food

	Literature

	GERMAN BUSINESS

	German Translations

	ABOUT US

	Contact Us

	Partners

Sponsored by:

Learn German

German language » German Grammar » Adjective » Attributive Adjective

ADJECTIVE ATTRIBUTIVE

An adjective immediately preceding its noun is attributive. Attributive adjectives appear directly to the left of their noun.

Examples in German:

This blue bag is heavy.
Diese blaue Tasche ist schwer.

The small girl is beautiful.
Das kleine Mädchen ist schön.

The happy people are young.
Die glücklichen Leute sind jung.

Attributive Adjectives precede the nound and they take endings which are determined by what precedes them (i.e. a "der-word" or an "ein-word" or nothing).

	Masculine	Feminine
Nominative	der nette Mann ein netter Mann	die nette Frau eine nette Frau
Accusative	den netten Mann einen netten Mann	die nette Frau eine nette Frau
Dative	dem netten Mann einem netten Mann	der netten Frau einer netten Frau
Genitive	des netten Mannes eines netten Mannes	der netten Frau einer netten Frau

When an attributive adjective is not preceded by a "der-word" or an "ein-word" it is called an Unpreceded Adjective(with the exception of the masculine and neuter Genitive) are the "der-word" (or "dieser-word") endings.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	guter Wein	gute Milch	gutes Bier	gute Kinder
Accusative	guten Wein	gute Milch	gutes Bier	gute Kinder
Dative	gutem Wein	guter Milch	gutem Bier	guten Kindern
Genitive	guten Weins	guter Milch	guten Biers	guter Kinder

The Endings of Declined Adjectives:

There are three declension systems in German, (strong), (weak), and (mixed). Each system declines in 3 genders and plural. The following tables are different from those in many American grammar books, which tabulate only endings.

Strong Declension

	Masculine	Feminine
Nom.	roter Wein	warme Speise
Acc.	(für) roten Wein	(für) warme Speise
Dat.	(aus) rotem Wein	(aus) warmer Speise
Gen.	(statt) roten Weins	(statt) warmer Speise

	Neuter	Plural
Nom.	hartes Metall	harte Metalle
Acc.	(für) hartes Metall	(für) harte Metalle
Dat.	(aus) hartem Metall	(aus) harten Metallen
Gen.	(statt) harten Metalls	(statt) harter Metalle

Weak Declension

	Masculine	Feminine
Nom.	der bunte Stoff	die alte Burg
Acc.	(für) den bunten Stoff	(für) die alte Burg
Dat.	(aus) dem bunten Stoff	(aus) der alten Burg
Gen.	(statt) des bunten Stoffs	(statt) der alten Burg

	Neuter	Plural
Nom.	das kleine Kind	die kleinen Kinder
Acc.	(für) das kleine Kind	(für) die kleinen Kinder
Dat.	(aus) dem kleinen Kind	(aus) den kleinen Kindern
Gen.	(statt) des kleinen Kinds	(statt) der kleinen Kinder

»» Mixed Declension
»» Back

Back to:

German Grammar

About Us | Contact Us | Advertising | How to link to us | Partners

English language | French language | Italian language | Spanish language