Breakdown of Alle bekannten Schriftsteller lieben diese Literatur.
alle
all, everyone
lieben
to love
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
bekannt
known
der Schriftsteller
the writer
die Literatur
the literature
Questions & Answers about Alle bekannten Schriftsteller lieben diese Literatur.
Why does the adjective bekannten end in -en?
The word alle (all) acts like a plural definite article, just like the plural die. Because it takes the article's role, any adjective that comes after it gets the weak plural ending -en. That is why we say Alle bekannten Schriftsteller.
If I wanted to say 'Many well-known writers,' would the ending on bekannt be the same?
No, it would be Viele bekannte Schriftsteller. Unlike alle, plural words like viele (many), einige (some), and mehrere (several) do not act like definite articles. They act like regular adjectives, so the descriptive adjective after them takes the strong plural ending -e in the nominative case.
The word Schriftsteller does not have a plural ending here. How can we tell it is plural?
You can tell by looking at the words around it. The word Alle means 'all,' and the verb lieben is conjugated for the plural 'they' form. German nouns ending in -er (like Schriftsteller, Lehrer, or Computer) usually have the exact same spelling in the plural as they do in the singular.
Why is it diese Literatur instead of diesen or dieses?
The phrase diese Literatur is the direct object of the verb lieben, so it must be in the accusative case. Because Literatur is a feminine noun, the word for 'this' takes the feminine accusative ending -e, making it diese.
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