Breakdown of Ihr edler Hund isst nur das allerbeste Fleisch.
der Hund
the dog
gut
good / well
essen
to eat
Ihr
your (formal)
das Fleisch
the meat
nur
only
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
edel
noble
Questions & Answers about Ihr edler Hund isst nur das allerbeste Fleisch.
Does adding aller- change how the superlative adjective is declined?
No, it acts just like a regular adjective. Because Fleisch is a neuter noun in the accusative case and is preceded by the definite article das, the superlative takes the weak ending -e. This gives us das allerbeste Fleisch.
Why is the adjective for noble spelled edler instead of edeler?
The base adjective is edel. When German adjectives end in -el or -er (like dunkel or teuer), they drop the unaccented e before adding a declension ending. Here, it needs the masculine nominative strong ending -er because the possessive Ihr takes no ending, so edel becomes edler.
Can I use the prefix aller- on a base adjective, like alleredel to mean 'very noble'?
No, the intensifying prefix aller- can only be attached to the superlative form of an adjective, such as beste, schönste, or schnellste. If you want to intensify a base adjective, you must use an adverb like sehr, making it sehr edel.
Since Ihr is capitalized at the beginning of the sentence, how do we know it means 'her' and not 'your'?
Without more context, you actually do not know for sure! Because it is the first word of the sentence, it must be capitalized. Standing alone, Ihr edler Hund could translate to 'her noble dog', 'their noble dog', or 'your' (formal) 'noble dog'.
Learn Ihr edler Hund isst nur das allerbeste Fleisch and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free