Breakdown of Dieses Bier hat viel Alkohol, aber es schmeckt süßlich und nicht alkoholisch.
es
it
und
and
haben
to have
aber
but
viel
much / a lot
nicht
not
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
das Bier
the beer
schmecken
to taste
der Alkohol
the alcohol
süßlich
sweetish
alkoholisch
alcoholic
Questions & Answers about Dieses Bier hat viel Alkohol, aber es schmeckt süßlich und nicht alkoholisch.
Why does the sentence use süßlich instead of just süß?
The suffix -lich often weakens the meaning of the base adjective, very much like adding the ending -ish in English. While süß means sweet, süßlich means sweetish or only slightly sweet.
How does the suffix -isch work in alkoholisch?
The suffix -isch turns nouns into adjectives to mean relating to or having the quality of that noun. It is especially common with nouns borrowed from other languages. Here, it turns the noun Alkohol into the adjective alkoholisch.
Could I say alkoholig or alkohollich instead of alkoholisch?
No, German words generally only pair with one specific suffix to form an adjective, which you just have to memorize over time. However, a helpful rule of thumb is that foreign or scientific words like Alkohol almost always take -isch rather than -ig or -lich.
Why does the sentence say viel Alkohol instead of adding an adjective ending like vielen Alkohol?
When the word viel is used with uncountable mass nouns like Alkohol, Wasser, or Geld, it does not take a grammatical ending. You simply use the base form viel.
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