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Understanding German Adjective Endings in the Dative Case
In German, adjectives change their endings based on the case, gender, and number of the nouns they describe. The dative case is used to show the indirect object of a sentence, which often answers the question 'to whom' or 'for whom' something is done.
Important Points
Definite Articles: When using definite articles like 'dem', 'der', 'den', adjectives take the ending '-en'.
Indefinite Articles: When using indefinite articles like 'einem', 'einer', adjectives also take the ending '-en'.
No Article: When there is no article, adjectives take different endings: '-em' for masculine and neuter nouns, '-er' for feminine nouns, and '-en' for plural nouns.
Examples
Ich gebe dem großen Mann ein Buch.
Sie hilft einer alten Frau.
Wir sprechen mit freundlichen Kindern.
Let's break it down with examples. If you're talking about giving a book to a big man, you would say 'Ich gebe dem großen Mann ein Buch.' Here, 'großen' is the adjective describing 'Mann', and it takes the '-en' ending because 'dem' is a definite article in the dative case.
Similarly, if you're helping an old lady, you would say 'Sie hilft einer alten Frau.' The adjective 'alten' describes 'Frau' and takes the '-en' ending because 'einer' is an indefinite article in the dative case.
Finally, when talking to friendly children without using an article, you would say 'Wir sprechen mit freundlichen Kindern.' The adjective 'freundlichen' takes the '-en' ending because 'Kindern' is plural and in the dative case.
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