23.1. Adjectives in German: Gender of Adjectives

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23.1. Adjectives in German: Gender of Adjectives

The study of adjectives in German is a fundamental aspect for understanding and fluency in the language. Adjectives are words that describe or modify other words, usually nouns. In German, adjectives agree in gender, number and case with the noun they modify, which is different from many other languages, including English.

Gender of Adjectives

In German, there are three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Unlike Portuguese, gender in German is not related to biological sex, but to a grammatical characteristic. Therefore, it is essential to learn the gender of each noun when studying German vocabulary.

German adjectives agree with the gender of the noun they modify. This means that the adjective can have a different form depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine or neuter. For example, the adjective "klein" (small) can be "kleiner" for a masculine noun, "kleine" for a feminine noun, and "kleines" for a neuter noun.

Adjective Formation

Adjectives in German are formed by adding a suffix to the base adjective. The suffix depends on the gender, number and case of the noun. In general, the suffixes are "-er" for masculine, "-e" for feminine and "-es" for neuter in the nominative case. In the accusative case, the suffixes are "-en" for masculine, "-e" for feminine and "-es" for neuter. In the dative and genitive case, suffixes are usually "-en" for all genders.

For example, if we want to say "a little cat" in German, we would say "ein kleiner Kater" if the cat is masculine, "eine kleine Katze" if the cat is feminine, and "ein kleines Kätzchen" if the cat is a puppy (neutral). Note that the article ("ein" or "eine") also agrees with the noun's gender.

Adjectives without Suffixes

Some adjectives in German do not take suffixes. These are usually adjectives that end in "-e" or "-er" and adjectives that are derived from city or country names. For example, "teuer" (expensive), "lecker" (delicious), "Berliner" (from Berlin), and "deutscher" (German) are not suffixed.

Conclusion

The study of the gender of adjectives in German is an important aspect for understanding and fluency in the language. It is important to remember that adjectives agree in gender, number and case with the noun they modify, and that gender in German is a grammatical feature, unrelated to biological sex. Therefore, it is essential to learn the gender of each noun when studying German vocabulary. Also, it is important to be aware that some adjectives are not suffixed and to know the rules for forming adjectives in German.

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8623.2. Adjectives in German: Formation of the plural of adjectives