Adjektivs

Adjektivs is the genitive singular form of the German noun Adjektiv and is used in grammar texts when referring to the category itself. In everyday language, the plural Adjektive is typically used to talk about adjectives in general. Adjectives (Adjektive) are a class of words that describe or modify nouns or pronouns, signaling qualities such as size, color, or origin. They can participate in attributive and predicative positions.

In attributive use, adjectives appear directly before a noun and may show inflection for gender, case and number. German has three main declension patterns for attributive adjectives: strong, weak, and mixed. The pattern chosen depends on the determiner or article preceding the noun. With a definite article, adjectives usually take weak endings (der große Hund). With an indefinite article or possessive determiner, mixed endings are common (ein großer Hund, mein großer Hund). Without a determiner, strong endings are used (großer Hund, große Häuser).

In predicative use, adjectives describe a subject via a linking verb and typically do not take inflection endings (Der Hund ist groß). Adjectives can also function as adverbs in some contexts, usually remaining in their base form when modifying verbs (Sie läuft schnell).

Adjectives have three degrees of comparison: Positiv (the base form), Komparativ (e.g., größer), and Superlativ (am größten). These forms compare properties and interact with article usage and declension patterns. German adjectives thus combine lexical meaning with morphosyntactic inflection to indicate reference, agreement, and comparison.