How to learn Adjectives in German

Adjectives in German

We are going to talk today about Adjectives in German which is very important to learn it because it helps you to speak much well.

An adjective is a part of speech which can be thought of as a “describing word”—typically, an adjective modifies a noun. In both English and German, adjectives come before the noun they describe or modify. In many other languages (such as French) they usually come after the noun. Here are some examples of adjectives (underlined) you have already encountered:

Ich habe viel Arbeit. I have much work.
Wir haben keinen Käse. We have no cheese.
Bei klarem Wetter hat man eine gute Sicht. In clear weather, one has a good view
Zürich ist die größte Stadt. Zurich is the largest city.

Because nouns are capitalized in German, it is fairly obvious in these sentences where the adjectives occur: just before the nouns they modify.

Note how the endings on German adjectives can change, depending upon the noun (keinen Käse; klarem Wetter; gute Sicht)—specifically, the gender and case of the noun they are modifying.

Before explaining the basic rules governing adjective endings, you need to have a better understanding of person, gender, and case in German nouns—concepts that will be explored in the next few lessons.
Finally, realize that the ordinal numbers you learned in Lektion 3 are, in fact, adjectives—subject to the same rules governing word endings for adjectives.

Wer ist das dritte Mädchen? Who is the third girl?
Wir verstehen nur die erste Lektion. We understand only the first lesson.