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I am confused about adjective endings and placement.

Example:

(1) Mein alter Pullover ist sehr hässlich.

(2) Mein hässlicher Pullover ist sehr alt.

(3) Mein Pullover ist sehr alt und hässlich.

My question is this: In all three cases the pullover is both old and ugly, yet why is it that depending on where the adjectives are they either take the -er ending (since it is der Pullover) or not?

In other words, why is it not:

Mein alter Pullover ist sehr hässlicher.

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sci-guy
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  • You have to study adjective declensions in German. https://deutsch.lingolia.com/de/grammatik/adjektive/deklination – rogermue Mar 09 '15 at 06:34
  • This has already been thoroughly discussed in http://german.stackexchange.com/questions/22117/why-ein-blaues-hemd-and-not-ein-blau-hemd and http://german.stackexchange.com/questions/13765/deutscher-schäferhund-or-deutsche-schäferhund. Please start a survey of existing posts using tags and search function before producing duplicates, it makes topics much easier to handle. – Martin Schwehla Mar 09 '15 at 08:44
  • This question is nearer to http://german.stackexchange.com/questions/15547/warum-ist-der-apfel-rot-und-nicht-rote?lq=1 than to those mentioned as duplicates. – Carsten S Mar 09 '15 at 10:13

1 Answers1

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The adjectives alt and hässlich in your last sentence, (3), are predicative. So is the second adjective in (1) and (2). Predicative are not declined; they occur after the verb sein there. In these three sentences you wrote the declension (and the absence thereof) correctly.

Regarding the question pertaining the last sentence: it's wrong because the adjective hässlich appears there qualifying your noun, Pullover, via a verbal construction; it doesn't need an ending. You don't need to decline those. Decline those adjectives directly qualifying the noun (attributive adjectives), as you correctly did with alter.

c.p.
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  • Thanks. Although, as a learner it is still quite confusing. I guess I don't know enough about declination. To me the Pullover in all three is old and ugly and should have the same endings regardless of position? That would be too easy though :) – sci-guy Mar 09 '15 at 07:44
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    It's not about position, it's about function. – Carsten S Mar 09 '15 at 07:59
  • When you learn a foreign language you should not suppose that the foreign grammarr is as in English. Things can be done very differently and that is why you should work with a grammar where things that are different from English are explained. – rogermue Mar 14 '15 at 17:57