Breakdown of Diese Farbe ist dunkel, aber jene ist hell.
sein
to be
aber
but
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
die Farbe
the color
Questions & Answers about Diese Farbe ist dunkel, aber jene ist hell.
Why does the word jene end in -e in this sentence?
The word jene acts as a demonstrative pronoun here, standing in for 'that color'. Because the noun it replaces is the feminine Farbe, it takes the feminine nominative ending -e. It directly contrasts with diese (this).
How common are words like jene in everyday German conversation?
In modern spoken German, they are actually quite rare! Jener, jene, and jenes sound formal or literary. In everyday speech, a German would more likely emphasize the definite article and say '...aber DIE ist hell' or use 'die da' (that one there). However, you need to know jene for reading and formal writing.
Could I just write 'aber die ist hell' instead of using jene?
Yes, using the stressed definite article die as a pronoun is grammatically correct and very common. However, pairing diese and jene is a classic way to create a strong, elegant stylistic contrast in written German, similar to 'this one' versus 'that one' in English.
Why do the adjectives dunkel and hell lack endings, even though they describe the feminine noun Farbe?