Adjective-case

Adjective-case refers to the grammatical case of an adjective, determining its form based on its relationship to a noun or pronoun. It indicates agreement in grammatical features, such as gender, number, and sometimes definiteness, with the noun it modifies. This case system is commonly found in inflected languages like German, Russian, Latin, and Ancient Greek. The specific form of the adjective changes according to the case of the noun it describes, providing crucial information about the noun's function within the sentence and its relation to other words. It ensures grammatical accuracy and clarity.

Adjective-case meaning with examples

• In German, the adjective 'gut' (good) changes to 'guten' in the dative case when modifying a masculine noun like 'Mann' (man), forming 'dem guten Mann' (to the good man). The case ending on 'guten' signals the indirect object's dative function, clarifying the sentence's structure, which is essential for understanding the meaning.
• Russian utilizes adjective-case variations extensively. For instance, the adjective 'красивый' (krasivyy, beautiful) becomes 'красивую' (krasivuyu) in the accusative feminine singular to agree with a noun like 'девушку' (devushku, girl), resulting in 'Я вижу красивую девушку' (I see a beautiful girl), thus indicating a direct object.
• Latin's adjective-case system mirrors the noun declensions. The adjective 'bonus' (good) adapts to match the noun 'puer' (boy). The nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and ablative forms of 'bonus' must correspond to the same forms of 'puer' within its sentence, for example, 'puer bonus' (a good boy) in the nominative case.
• In Ancient Greek, adjectives also adopt different forms depending on the case. 'καλός' (kalos, beautiful) alters for gender, number, and case. 'καλός' modifies a masculine singular noun. In accusative plural the adjectives take the 'ους' ending matching the noun, an example being 'τὰ καλά' ('ta kala') - the beautiful ones.
• Consider the phrase 'a green apple'. While English doesn't have a robust adjective-case system, this concept could be translated into German: 'ein grüner Apfel' (nominative), 'eines grünen Apfels' (genitive), 'einem grünen Apfel' (dative), or 'einen grünen Apfel' (accusative). The case of the noun, 'Apfel' (apple) dictates the adjective's form.