Clothing & Colors
कपड़े और रंग
Color adjectives give a first taste of German's adjective-ending system — an adjective describing a noun changes its ending based on that noun's gender, case, and whether an article precedes it. Hindi already has a couple of adjectives that change with gender (नीला, हरा), so this idea isn't entirely new.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
Adjective endings: the same feel as Hindi's नीला/नीली/नीले
der rote Pullover / die rote Jacke / das rote Hemd
लाल स्वेटर / लाल जैकेट / लाल कमीज़
Hindi's 'लाल' doesn't change, but 'नीला' does (नीला स्वेटर, नीली जैकेट, नीले जूते) — matching the noun's gender and number. German adjectives change in the same spirit, but by case as well as gender: an adjective placed before a noun takes an ending reflecting that noun's gender and case — here rote is used after the definite article across all three genders in the nominative, but that ending will change again in other cases and article types. The full system is covered in a later lesson — for now, just notice that German adjectives aren't as fixed as Hindi's 'लाल', but as flexible as 'नीला'.
Adjectives after sein take no ending at all
Der Pullover ist rot.
स्वेटर लाल है।
A welcome exception: when an adjective follows the verb sein ("to be") instead of sitting directly before the noun, it takes no ending at all, exactly like Hindi "स्वेटर लाल है" — Der Pullover ist rot, not rote. The ending only applies when the adjective sits directly in front of the noun it describes.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| German | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| die Kleidung | dee KLY-doong | कपड़ेkapṛe | the clothing |
| das Hemd | dahs hemt | कमीज़kamīz | the shirt |
| die Hose | dee HOH-zeh | पतलूनpatlūn | the pants |
| der Pullover | dair pool-OH-ver | स्वेटरsveṭar | the sweater |
| die Schuhe | dee SHOO-eh | जूतेjūte | the shoes |
| rot | roht | लालlāl | red |
| blau | blow | नीलाnīlā | blue |
| grün | grewn | हराharā | green |
| schwarz | shvarts | कालाkālā | black |
| weiß | vys | सफ़ेदsafed | white |
| Der Pullover ist rot. | dair pool-OH-ver ist roht | स्वेटर लाल है।sveṭar lāl hai | The sweater is red. |