Clothing & Colors
Clothing & Colors
Color adjectives introduce your first taste of German's adjective-ending system: an adjective describing a noun changes its ending depending on that noun's gender, case, and whether an article precedes it.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Adjective endings: a new habit for English speakers
der rote Pullover / die rote Jacke / das rote Hemd
the red sweater / the red jacket / the red shirt
English adjectives never change form no matter what noun they describe ("red" stays "red" for sweater, jacket, or shirt). German adjectives placed before a noun take an ending that reflects the noun's gender and case — here, rote after a definite article is used for all three genders in the nominative, but the ending will shift again in other cases and after different article types. This full system is covered in depth in a later lesson; for now, just notice that German adjectives are not the frozen, unchanging words English speakers are used to.
Predicate adjectives (after sein) don't change at all
Der Pullover ist rot.
The sweater is red.
There's a reassuring exception: when an adjective comes AFTER the verb sein ("to be") rather than directly before a noun, it takes no ending whatsoever, behaving exactly like English — Der Pullover ist rot, not rote. Endings only apply when the adjective sits directly in front of the noun it modifies.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| die Kleidung | dee KLY-doong | the clothing |
| das Hemd | dahs hemt | the shirt |
| die Hose | dee HOH-zeh | the pants |
| der Pullover | dair pool-OH-ver | the sweater |
| die Schuhe | dee SHOO-eh | the shoes |
| rot | roht | red |
| blau | blow | blue |
| grün | grewn | green |
| schwarz | shvarts | black |
| weiß | vys | white |
| Der Pullover ist rot. | dair pool-OH-ver ist roht | The sweater is red. |