SamSkandinavisk adjectives

Adjectives must agree with the noun for gender, number and definiteness. Adjectives have two paradigms for declension -- an indefinite declension and a definite declension.

Indefinite Paradigm:

In the attributive and predicative position common gender nouns have no ending.
Neuter gender nouns take a -t ending.
Plural nouns take a -e ending.

Examples of Adjectives in the attributive position.

Neuter: Ett grönnt tre. = A green tree

Common: En klok kvinne = A clever woman.

Plural: Glade drömmer = Happy dreams

In the predicative position, the adjective must agree with the gender and number of the noun it refers to. It does not however agree with the definite or indefinite status; The form of the adjective in the predicative position always takes the indefinite form.

Examples of Adjectives in the predicative position.

Neuter definite: Huset er stort. = The house is big.

Neuter indefinite: Ett barn er sjukt. = A child is sick.

Common definite: Jätten er vred = The giant is angry.

Common indefinite En bösse kunne väre farlig = A gun could be dangerous.

Plural definite: Bilerne var billige. The cars were cheap.

Plural indefinite: Fisker er glatte. = Fish are slippery.

Definite Paradigm:

This is used when the noun has the definite article or certain other demonstrative pronouns and determiners. When definite, all adjectives end in -e. Neuter Definite: Det store hus. = The big house Common Definite: Den ömme ankel. = The sore ankle. Plural Definite: De skarpe sverd. = The sharp swords. Comparative Similar to other Germanic languages, the comparative is formed by adding -ere to the stem and the superlative is formed by adding -est or -este. The comparative ending is always -ere and doesn’t vary based on gender, number or definiteness. Dette barn var sjukere. = This child was sicker. Vredere jätter = angrier giants. Superlative The superlative ending is –est or –este. This depends on gender, number and definiteness. In the Indefinite Paradigm, the superlative ending is –est for singular neuter and singular common gender nouns. It is –este for plural nouns. Singular Neuter Indefinite: ett barn er sjukest = a child is sickest Singular Common Indefinite: en kvinne er klokest = a woman is smartest. Plural Indefinite: skarpeste sverd = sharpest swords. In the Definite Paradigm, the superlative ending is always –este. Det störste hus = the biggest house Den ömmeste ankel = the sorest ankle De skarpeste sverd = the sharpest swords. A minority of adjectives have irregular declensions, typically they change the stem-vowel by umlaut when forming the comparative and superlative. For example stor (big); comparative större; superlative störst. Some adjectives are further irregular and have totally different stems in the definite form or the plural form of when forming the comparative and superlative. For example, with god (good) the comparative is bettre and the superlative is best. Liten (little) is the most irregular adjective. Indefinite common singular = liten; indefinite neuter = litet, definite singular = lille; definite and indefinite plural = små ; comparative = mindre; superlative = minst Past participle of verbs used as adjectives Verbs have a past participle which can be used as adjectives and they follow similar rules to other adjectives. Weak Verbs: Indefinite: The indefinite singular forms end in -(e)t, just like the supine form of the verb. eg tendet (lit, illuminated), aktiveret (enabled) Indefinite Plural and Definite The indefinite plural and definite forms end in -(e)de, or -te These forms follow the form of the past tense of the verb. If the past tense ends in -(e)de , it will be -(e)de. If it ends in -te, it will be -te. Tendede ljus = lit candles, Det aktiverede forsvar = the enabled defense. Strong Verbs: eg skoren (cut). afbruten (cancelled) Indefinite Singular: The indefinite singular forms end in -en when used with common gender nouns En skoren potate. = a sliced potato En afbruten rekning. = a cancelled account. With Neuter gender nouns, the indefinite singular ends in -et eg skoret, afbrutet -- this is the same as the supine of the verb. Ett skoret eple. = a sliced apple. Ett afbrutet forsök. = an interrupted experiment. Indefinite plural and Definite: The indefinite plural and definite forms end in -ene. Skorene potater. = Sliced potatoes. Den afbrutene rekning. = the cancelled account. Adjectives ending in -en e.g. galen (crazy), open (open),rotten (rotten) These behave like past participles of strong verbs. (often these originally were) Indefinite common end in -en. En galen ape. = a crazy monkey En open dör. = an open door. En rotten potate. = a rotten potato. Indefinite Neuter end in -et Ett galet dyr. = a crazy animal. Ett opet vindöge. = an open window. Ett rottet eple. = a rotten apple. Indefinite plural and definite end in -ene. Galene dyr. = crazy animals. Det opene vindöge. = the open window. De rottene potater. = the rotten potatoes. Adverbs end in: -et Min bror log galet = my brother laughed insanely. Sin kone kunne ikke snakke opet om hans galenskap. = His wife couldn’t talk candidly about his insanity De gammle eple sank rottet. = The old apples drooped rottenly. Adjectives ending -d eg bred (wide) add -t for indefinite neuter e.g. bred /bre:d/ > bredt /bre:t/. The d becomes silent Add -e as other words for indefinite plural and definite. eg brede Adverbs from Adjectives Adjectives must have a -t suffix added to be used as adverbs. Min kone svimmer. Hon svimmer langsamt. = My wife is swimming. She’s swimming slowly. There are some exceptions to this rule. Adjectives already ending in -t. These don’t need another -t to be used as an adverb Han verderede tilstanden rett. = He appraised the situation correctly Comparative adjectives ending in -ere. These does not require a -t suffix to be used as adverbs. Ingen hest löper hastigere. = No horse runs more quickly. Present Participles used as an adverb do not required a -t suffix. Ditt forsök har sluted lovende. = Your experiment has concluded encouragingly. Past Participles used as Adverbs. End in -(e)t eg bedrövet = sadly. Överdrivet = excessively. This is the same as the supine. Adjectives ending -d add -t also to make an adverb, e.g. vid (wide). vid /vi:d/ > vidt /vi:t/. The d becomes silent here also.