Hello,
While doing lesson 2.3, I didn't notice the German adjective "blau"
in upper case.
http://en.pons.com/translate?q=blau&l=deen&in=&lf=de
Now at lesson 5.3, I see that it may not be necessary to capitalize
"blaue".
http://en.pons.com/translate?q=blaue&l=deen&in=&lf=de
Can anybody explain this situation?
Lower case adjective: (Thank you Paul &
Byron for your explanations below - Here blue describes suitcase,
so it is a pure adjective)
Der blaue Koffer
The blue suitcase
5.3 Retail Therapy
http://members.rocketlanguages.com/lessons/46
Upper case like a noun: (Here we turn blue into a
noun, so it is capitalized in German)
Der Blaue ist mein Pullover
The blue sweater is mine
2.3 At The Airport
http://members.rocketlanguages.com/lessons/34
Ja, der Blaue ist mein Koffer.
Yes, the blue suitcase is mine.
2.3 At The Airport
http://members.rocketlanguages.com/lessons/34
Thank you,
Jason
(Update 2014-01-26) Thanks Byron. The best reference I have found
is this one:
http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa020919b.htm
I have to come back to this with somebody that knows the rules and
see how it applies above.
3. ADJEKTIVE 1 (Adjectives 1)
German adjectives — including those of nationality — are NOT
capitalized. In English, it is correct to write "the American
writer" or "a German car." In German, adjectives are not
capitalized, even if they refer to nationality: der amerikanische
Präsident (the American president), ein deutsches Bier (a German
beer). The only exception to this rule is when an adjective is part
of a species name, a legal, geographic or historical term; an
official title, certain holidays, or common expression: der Zweite
Weltkrieg (the Second World War), der Nahe Osten (the Middle East),
die Schwarze Witwe (the black widow [spider]), Regierender
Bürgermeister ("ruling" mayor), der Weiße Hai (the great white
shark), der Heilige Abend (Christmas Eve).
Even in book, film or organizational titles, adjectives are usually
not capitalized: Die amerikanische Herausforderung (The American
Challenge), Die weiße Rose (The White Rose), Amt für öffentlichen
Verkehr (Office of Public Transportation). In fact, for book and
movie titles in German, only the first word and any nouns are
capitalized. (See the article on German Punctuation for more about
book and film titles in German.)
Farben (colors) in German can be either nouns or
adjectives. In certain prepositional phrases they are
nouns: in Rot (in red), bei Grün (at green, i.e., when the light
turns green). In most other situations, colors are adjectives: "das
rote Haus," "Das Auto ist blau."
Der blaue

jason☺
January 25, 2015

Byron-K21
January 25, 2015

Paul-Weber
February 17, 2015
Hi there,
Byron you are right. For English speakers it might be hard to relate as it is harder in English to make adjectives to nouns. In der "Der Blaue ist mein Pullover", "Blaue" is a noun. The noun "Koffer" became redundant in the conversation.
"Der Blonde ist kleiner." In English you would ad the word "guy", "person" or "man". "The blond guy is smaller."
Regards
Paul

jason☺
February 18, 2015
Thank you both. I have updated my question to explain the solution.
The new forum doesn't show the dates. I really hate that. 3 weeks? 1 year? Why bother including a date at all. It was much better before when it included all details "Paul-Weber - February 20, 2013, 8:17 pm".
Seems it would be more difficult to calculate the elapsed time and decide if it should be written in days, weeks, or years than it would be to just show the time. I'm so disappointed with these forum changes. Who would have requested that feature?
-Jason