1

Given the following sentence:

Das ist der perfekte Ort.

Why does perfekt end with an e? I thought that nouns following ist are in the nominative case and that an adjective following the definite article before the noun would not take an ending?

I know Ort is not in the accusative case because then perfekt would take en as in:

Er ging an den perfekten Ort.

So the fact it picks up an e in the first sentence confuses me. What do I need to update regarding my knowledge involving the declination of adjectives?

Improve this question
8
  • 4
    You are that it is nominative and also to take the article into account, but “no ending” is something that you must have misunderstood: de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Flexion:perfekt You can look up other adjectives to see that -e is not an exception either.
    – Carsten S
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 5:42
  • 1
    @CarstenS I guess you wanted to start you comment with "You are right that..." ?
    – Arsak
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 5:53
  • 1
    @Arsak, right, thanks. It is too late for an edit now.
    – Carsten S
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 6:02
  • 1
    @KilianFoth it is ein grosses Meer
    – Volker Landgraf
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 7:22
  • 2
    Sorry, fixed... Why would you think that the nominative case would not take an ending? It can take -e, -er, -en, -es ... in fact, most of the few endings we do have appear in the nominative: Der grosse See; ein grosser See; die grossen Seen; ein grosses Meer...
    – Kilian Foth
    Commented May 23, 2019 at 8:04

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

You have misunderstood adjective declination.

Adjectives used before a noun are declined in every case (including the nominative). You can find a complete reference here.

Adjectives used as a predicate are not declined:

Der Ort ist perfekt.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.