Breakdown of Der Ingenieur erfindet viel Sinnloses.
viel
much / a lot
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Ingenieur
the engineer
erfinden
to invent
sinnlos
useless
Questions & Answers about Der Ingenieur erfindet viel Sinnloses.
Why is Sinnloses capitalized and what does the -es ending mean?
Sinnloses is a nominalized adjective. It comes from the adjective sinnlos (useless or senseless) but is turned into a noun here to mean useless things or useless stuff. In German, when you turn an adjective into an abstract noun, it is capitalized and takes the neuter gender. Because it follows the uninflected word viel, it takes the strong neuter accusative ending -es.
Why doesn't the word viel have an ending like vieles?
When viel (much) and wenig (little) are used before singular, uncountable concepts or nominalized adjectives like Sinnloses, they usually drop their endings. They just stay as viel or wenig. Because viel does not have an ending to show the case, the word after it must take a strong ending to show the grammar instead.
Could I say viele sinnlose Dinge instead of viel Sinnloses?
Yes, absolutely! Saying viele sinnlose Dinge (many useless things) is grammatically correct and means almost the same thing. However, German speakers often prefer turning the adjective into a noun (viel Sinnloses) because it sounds more elegant and concisely expresses the abstract idea of useless stuff.
What case is viel Sinnloses in this sentence?
It is in the accusative case. The phrase viel Sinnloses is the direct object being acted upon by the verb erfindet (invents). The engineer is the subject doing the action (nominative), and the useless stuff is the direct object receiving the action (accusative).
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