Breakdown of Meine Tochter ist weiblich.
sein
to be
mein
my
die Tochter
the daughter
weiblich
female; feminine (grammatical gender)
Questions & Answers about Meine Tochter ist weiblich.
Why doesn't weiblich have an ending like weibliche to match the feminine noun Tochter?
In German, adjectives only get endings when they come directly before a noun. When an adjective comes after a verb like ist (is) to describe the subject, it stays in its basic dictionary form. This is called a predicative adjective, and it never changes to match the noun's gender or plural.
Does the ending -lich in weiblich mean something specific?
Yes, -lich is a very common suffix used to turn nouns into adjectives, similar to "-ly" or "-ish" in English. Here, it comes from the old noun das Weib (woman or wife), making weiblich mean "female". Another common example is männlich (male), which comes from der Mann (man).
I heard that the noun Weib is considered rude or outdated. Is it still okay to use weiblich?
Yes, weiblich is completely standard, polite, and neutral. It is the normal word used for "female" on official forms, in biology, or when describing gender. While calling a modern woman ein Weib is usually derogatory today, the adjective weiblich carries absolutely none of that negative baggage.
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