Adverbs, adjectives, and extended adjectives
Christian Anderson · 2021
This chapter begins with some of the easiest concepts in the German language and then expands into the most difficult ones. Predicate nouns are in the nominative case, just like the subject. Predicate adjectives do not require endings, just like adverbs. Attributive adjectives, on the other hand, require endings. The endings depend on the article (the der- or ein-word) that proceeds the noun, and sometimes there is not an article; this also effects the adjective ending. The important thing to have noticed in the example of der schöne Schmetterling is that the ending on the adjective changes depending on the ending (or lack of an ending) of the der - or ein -word. To recapitulate the major theme of this section: if the der- or ein -word uses the primary ending, then the adjective(s) will use the secondary ending. If not, then the adjective(s) will use the primary ending.