feminine, can be transformed into the feminine gender by changing the article and adding in to the masculine;21 as der Freund, friend. der Schneider, the tailor. die Freundin, female friend. die Schneiderin, the tailor's wife. die Königin, the queen. RULE 27.-To give the noun the diminutive form, the syllables chen and lein are added to it; and in most cases the radical vowels a o u are softened into der Hund, the dog; das Hündchen; das Hündlein. RULE 28.-Nouns formed of two or more words are called compound nouns; they always take the gender of the last component, and are subject to the same rules and remarks as any common noun, thus: der Hausherr (the master of the house) is masculine, belongs to the second declension, and takes, according to Remark 6 on Rule 12, en in the plural. REMARK 21.- (a) If the masculine noun ends in e or er these letters are dropped before adding the in, as-der Löwe, the lion, die Löwin; der Zauberer, the enchanter, die Zauberin. (b) In forming the feminine of a masculine noun the radical vowels ao u are usually softened into ä ö ü-der Graf, the count; die Gräfin. (c) There are some masculine nouns that form their feminine irregularly, as-der Vater, die Mutter; der Bruder, die Schwester; der Neffe, die Nichte, &c. REMARK 22.-(a) Nouns ending in e, en, ie, usually drop these letters before taking the diminutive endings, as-die Katze, the cat, das Kätzchen; Luise, Luischen; der Garten, the garden, das Gärtlein. (b) chen is the first, and lein the second degree of diminution; thus chen implies small or little, and lein very small or very little. Often the diminutive implies only endearment or ornament, and in that case chen means dear or pretty; and lein, dearest or prettiest. (c) Sometimes, for the sake of euphony, el or er is inserted between the noun and chen, as-mein Kinderchen, my dear little child; dein Wägelchen, thy pretty little carriage; sein Büchelchen, his pretty little book. 1 Find out and prove the gender, the declension, and the plural of the following nouns :— die Hausfrau, the lady of the house. CHAPTER V. OF ADJECTIVES. RULE 29. An adjective qualifies a noun, always precedes it,23 and agrees with it in number, gender, and case; as— ein guter Vater; eine gute Mutter; ein gutes Kind.24 REMARK 23.-But if the adjective follows a verb it becomes an adverb, and remains invariable, as-der Vater ist gut, die Mutter ist gut, das Kind ist gut. REMARK 24.-Adjectives are: (a) Radical, as-grosz, great; klein, little; stark, strong; alt, old; jung, young; fest, tight. (b) Derived (from nouns and infinitives), as-kindish, childish; menschlich, human; lesbar, legible; golden, of gold; fleiszig, diligent. (c) Compound (by the union of two words), as— - dunkelgrün, dark green; stockdumm, very stupid; merkwürdig, curious; nachlässig, careless. REMARK 25.-Derived adjectives are principally formed by the following affixes: bur, sam, en, ern, ig, icht, isch, lich, and haft. (a) bar implies possibility or iuclination, as- dankbar, grateful; fruchtbar, fruitful; dienstbar, serviceable; sichtbar, visible; furchtbar, terrible. (b) sam expresses reality, as-furchtsam, timid; gewaltsam, violent friedsam, peaceful; heilsam, salutary; ehrsam, honoured. RULE 30.-The adjective is declined in three dif ferent ways, according to its being preceded (A) By the definite article; (B) By the indefinite article ; (c) By no article at all. RULE 31.—If preceded by the definite article, or by any word declined like the definite article (see Rule 5), the adjective takes e in the nominative case singular of all the genders, and en in all other cases of the singular and plural, except the accusative singular of the feminine and neuter genders, which are e like the nominative. Declension of adjectives precec'ed by the definite article, &c. Singular. The good father. N. der gute Vater G. des guten Vaters MASCULINE Plural. The good fathers. die guten Väter der guten Väter den guten Vätern die guten Väter (c) en and ern denote the material of which a thing is made, as— golden, of gold; leinen, of linen; ledern, of leather; kupfern, of copper. (d) ig shows a quality of a person or thing, as-gütig, kind; muthig, courageous; steinig, stony; holzig, woody; fleiszig, diligent; mächtig, mighty. (e) icht points out the similarity in general, as-steinicht, like a stone; holzicht, like wood; thöricht, foolish; kupfricht, copperlike. (f) isch shows a similarity to a person, country, place, &c, as-lutherisch, Luther-like; himmlisch, heavenly; englisch, English; irdisch, earthly; französisch, French. (Observe that all adjectives derived from proper nouns are written with a small letter.) (g) lich implies likeness or similarity to a person or a thing, assüszlich, sweetish; leserlich, legible; kindlich, childlike; freundlich, friendly; künstlich, artistically. (h) haft denotes the propensity or the manner belonging to a person or a thing, as-fehlerhaft, faulty; gewissenhaft, conscientious; herzhaft, hearty. RULE 32.-If preceded by the indefinite article, or by any word declined like the indefinite article (see Rule 7), the adjective takes in nominative singular er for the masculine, e for the feminine, and es for the neuter; all other cases, singular and plural, are en, except the accusative singular in the feminine and neuter genders, which is like the nominative. Declension of adjectives preceded by the indefinite article or possessive pronouns : 26 Plural. Our good fathers. unsere guten Väter unserer guten Väter unseren guten Vätern unsere guten Väter Plural. REMARK 26.-Though the indefinite article has no plural, yet all the possessive articles have a plural. Singular. NEUTER. Plural. My good children. meine guten Kinder meiner guten Kinder meinen guten Kindern meine guten Kinder RULE 33.-If not preceded by an article or any other determinative word, the adjective takes the endings of the definite article. (See Rule 5.) Declension of adjectives not preceded by any other word: REMARK 27.-The es of the genitive of the masculine and neuter genders may, if euphony demands it, be changed into en; thus, we may say guten Vaters and guten Kindes. |