Preaching - Prepare

Take a look at the example first:

Example:
Garten (m) - garden | klein - small
A: Ich sehe einen Garten.
B: Ich sehe einen kleinen Garten. Und du?
A: Ich sehe auch einen Garten.
B: Ich sehe einen kleinen Garten.

The pattern that we apply is:

Pattern
A: Ich sehe ein- + trigger.
B: Ich sehe ein- + klein- + trigger. Und du?
A: Ich sehe auch ein- + trigger.
B: Ich sehe ein- + klein- + trigger.

Looking easy? Good, but unfortunately it's going to get a bit more complicated than that. Read through the following points 2-3x. You don't have to learn them by heart. I just want you to be aware of them for now:

  • Whenever you use "einen", the word "klein-" ends in -en as well.
  • That's fairly easy: once -en, always -en, right?
  • That means if you see "ein-" ending in -en you add the same -en to the adjective (=klein).
  • The word Garten belongs to the category we officially call "nouns" which is simply the latin word for "name".
  • They are not influenced by this.
  • The word “klein” is called "adjective" and it changes according to what is written in front of it.

Now take a look and see what happens when we use "ein" or "eine" instead of "einen":

Example
Haus (n) - house
Ich sehe ein kleines Haus.

Welt (f)
Ich sehe eine kleine Welt.

You don't need to understand this just yet. The adjective endings are a very complex topic which you'll master step by step with this course. For now, all you got to do is practice these three patterns:

  • einen kleinen - Superhero
  • ein- großes Baby
  • eine große Fairy

Here three rules of thumb (!) to help you remember them:

  1. once -en (on article) always -en (on adjective)
  2. no ending on article takes an -s (for now)
  3. once -e, always -e

Is everything clear? Not yet? Don't worry. Go to the next step anyhow and practice your speaking. I'll guide you step by step.