49 Extended adjectival phrases
See 58.1 (p. 146).
Also known as ‘extended participial phrases’, adjectival phrases consist of a participle
(33.1) used as an attributive adjective (see 43 ) placed before the noun it describes. The
participle can either be present or past: For the use of adjectival phrases in definitions, see 75.1 (p. 241).
Dieses von Siemens entwickelte Verfahren ist sehr bedeutend.
This process developed by Siemens (lit. This by Siemens developed
process) is very significant.
Die das Streikrecht verteidigenden Arbeiter suchen die Unterstützung
ihres Abgeordneten.
The workers who are defending the right to strike (lit. The the right to
strike defending workers) are seeking the support of their MP.
Die sich auch in Großbritannien schnell entwickelnde ökologische
Bewegung übt einen großen Einfluss auf die Wähler aus.
The ecology movement which is also growing quickly in Great Britain
(lit. The also in Great Britain quickly developing ecological movement)
has a great influence on voters.As the last two examples show, the adjectival phrase may be extended by objects
(18.1, 19.1), adverbs ( 50 ) and reflexive pronouns (37.2), with the result that article
and noun are separated by several other elements. Note that English uses a phrase or
subordinate clause ( 8 ) placed after the noun to render these German phrases.NOTE These extended adjectival phrases are generally not used in spoken German but occur
frequently in newspapers, magazines, legal and other official documents (see 58 ).50 Adverbs
50.1 Adverbs qualify verbs and tell us how, why, at what time or in what place the
action of the verb was performed. There are several categories of adverb, including
ones of:
(a) time (e.g. schließlich ‘finally’, noch einmal ‘once again’, unterdessen
‘meanwhile’) (see 81 and 76.3–6)
(b) degree (e.g. fast ‘almost’, genug ‘enough’, teilweise ‘partly’)
(c) manner (e.g. gründlich ‘thoroughly’, schnell ‘quickly’, umsonst ‘in vain’)
(d) place (e.g. draußen ‘outside’, drüben ‘over there’, oben ‘up/upstairs’) (see 80 )Some separable prefixes (los-, weg-, zurück-, etc.) are adverbs too (see also 36.1, 57.1)50.2 The simple, i.e. uninflected, form of the adjective ( 43 ) can usually be used as an adverb:
Sie haben die Arbeit gut gemacht.
You’ve done the job well.50
Adverbs