The Demonstrative Adjectives
The Demonstrative Adjectives
Adjectives in German are a difficult grammatical topic - we will not look at their use until a later chapter. However, the demonstratives are relatively easy to recognize and use, because they substitute for the article that goes with the noun. They belong to the group of words we have been learning called determiners.
In English, the demonstrative adjectives "this" and "that" also substitute for the article, and we think of them as a special class of adjectives - just as we think of "my, your, his/hers/its" and "which" as special adjectives. In German, grammarians tend to class such words with the pronouns, even though they do not substitute for a noun. They are more like "pro-articles." We call them determiners, and in German, group them as the ein-words (like kein and the possessives) and the der-words (like welcher, dieser, and jener), based on whether the declension is similar to the indefinite article ein or the definite article der.
You saw that German demonstrative pronouns do not allow a contrast between "this one" and "that one". The demonstrative adjectives, however, do offer this contrast. Dieser indicates "this" and jener indicates "that" (or something like "the other one" in contrast with dieser).
Since you have three genders in German you have:
- dieser, diese, dieses- pl. diese
- jener, jene, jenes- pl. jene
Like the articles, these adjectives must agree with the noun in gender (masculine-feminine-neuter), number (singular or plural), and case (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative). And in fact these adjectives are der-words, conjugated very much like the definite articles der, die, das, - pl. die.
Here is the full declension of these demonstrative adjectives, as used with our three favorite representative nouns for the three genders. The same nouns with the definite article are included for comparison.
Singular:
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der Mann dieser Mann jener Mann |
die Frau diese Frau jene Frau |
das Kind dieses Kind jenes Kind |
| Genitive | des Mannes dieses Mannes jenes Mannes |
der Frau dieser Frau jener Frau |
des Kindes dieses Kindes dieses Kindes |
| Dative | dem Mann diesem Mann jenem Mann |
der Frau dieser Frau jener Frau |
dem Kind diesem Kind jenem Kind |
| Accusative | den Mann diesen Mann jenen Mann |
die Frau diese Frau jene Frau |
das Kind dieses Kind jenes Kind |
Plural:
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | die Männer diese Männer jene Männer |
die Frauen diese Frauen jene Frauen |
die Kinder diese Kinder jene Kinder |
| Genitive | der Männer dieser Männer jener Männer |
der Frauen dieser Frauen jener Frauen |
der Kinder dieser Kinder jener Kinder |
| Dative | den Männern diesen Männern jenen Männern |
den Frauen diesen Frauen jenen Frauen |
den Kindern diesen Kindern jenen Kindern |
| Accusative | die Männer diese Männer jene Männer |
die Frauen diese Frauen jene Frauen |
die Kinder diese Kinder jene Kinder |
Examples:
- Diese Studentinnen habe ich noch nie gesehen.
- Ich habe mir diesen Computer gekauft.
- Dieser Zug fährt nicht nach Frankfurt.
- Diesen Studenten hat mir Kristina gestern vorgestellt.
- Ich habe diesem Mann diesen Brief gegeben.
- Diese Studenten studieren Germanistik und Anglistik, jene (Studenten) studieren BWL.
- Dieser Zug fährt nach Berlin, jener (Zug) fährt nach München.
N.B. Since the demonstrative comes with some emphasis, there is a tendency to start the sentence with the demonstrative and its noun, whether it is the subject, object, or direct object - or even an adverbial phrase! However, there is no obligation to start the sentence this way.