Activities: "What are extended adjective constructions in German?"
By: Ulrike Carlson
Associated Articles
These activities are part of our German Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:
Activity 1: Find the extended adjective constructions!
Your friend is a travel writer and just wrote an article about a famous mountain in Switzerland. Now she would like you to read her sentences to see if her descriptions read well. Select each word of the five extended adjective constructions in the text to help her!
You are helping your friend, the famous travel writer, who is suffering from awful writer’s block. She wants to spruce up her slightly lackluster descriptions of her latest hike through the Alps. Use the phrases in parentheses to extend each underlined adjective phrase.
Use this vocabulary to help you:
German
English
die Berghütte
mountain shelter
der Hüttenwart
warden of a mountain shelter
aufgehen
to rise up in the sky
die Serpentine
winding path, switchback
Note:
If the phrase in parentheses contains a verb, you need to decide if that verb should become an adjective derived from a past participle or from a present participle. What makes the most sense in context? Remember the difference: present participle adjectives can be translated with an -ing form, while past participle adjectives have a passive meaning. Also, don’t forget to add an adjective ending to any adjectives, if it’s needed!
Gestern haben wir in einer Berghütte übernachtet.
(aus grauen Steinen, vor 100 Jahren, erbauen)
→ Gestern haben wir übernachtet.
Noch vor Sonnenaufgang gab es ein Frühstück.
(aus frischen Zutaten, vom Hüttenwart, kochen)
→ Noch vor Sonnenaufgang gab es .
Nach dem Frühstück bewunderten wir die Sonne.
(hinter den Bergen, wie eine große Orange, aufgehen)
→ Nach dem Frühstück bewunderten wir .
Dann stiegen wir den Pfad zum Gipfel hinauf.
(nicht sehr breit, in Serpentinen, sich winden)
→ Dann stiegen wir zum Gipfel hinauf.
Zur Mittagszeit konnten wir die Aussicht vom Gipfel genießen.
(wegen des klaren Himmels sehr gut, die umliegende Berglandschaft, zeigen)
→ Zur Mittagszeit konnten wir vom Gipfel genießen.
Activity 3: Let’s translate!
Your friend, the travel writer, recently wrote an article on mountain fauna of the Alps and now an English-language magazine wants to publish it. Her German text used so many extended adjective constructions that she is having trouble finding a good English translation. Help her translate!
German
English
das Edelweiß
edelweiss
vorkommen
to be found, to occur
der Winterschlaf
hibernation
das Murmeltiere
marmot, groundhog
das Nagetier
rodent
der Enzian
gentian
der Alpensteinbock
Alpine ibex
gebogen
curved
Edelweiß ist eine in den Bergen häufig vorkommende Bergblume.
.
Die im Frühling aus dem Winterschlaf erwachenden Murmeltiere sind Nagetiere.
.
Der wegen seiner blauen Farbe bekannte Enzian ist eine der schönsten Bergblumen.
.
Der Alpensteinbock hat bis zu einem Meter lange, gebogene Hörner.
.
Note for Teachers:
Translation tasks can be tricky since there can be more than one acceptable solution. Consider talking to your students beforehand about how to render these sentences into acceptable English and how to avoid word-by-word translations.
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