Questions & Answers about Der alte Hund ist fast blind.
Why is the ending alte instead of alter here, given that Hund is a masculine noun?
Because the definite article der already signals that the noun is masculine and in the nominative case, the adjective only needs the weak ending -e. If there were no article, the adjective would have to do the heavy lifting to show the gender and case, taking the strong ending -er (as in the phrase alter Hund).
Could I use beinahe instead of fast in this sentence?
Yes, beinahe works perfectly here (Der alte Hund ist beinahe blind). The words fast and beinahe are virtually interchangeable when they mean almost or nearly. Fast is just slightly more common in everyday speech because it is shorter. Another very natural alternative for B2 learners is so gut wie blind (as good as blind).
This lesson focuses on the possessive dative. Since it is missing here, how would I apply that structure to say 'I am washing the old dog's eyes'?
To use the possessive dative instead of the genitive case (die Augen des alten Hundes), you make the dog the indirect object receiving the action. You would say: Ich wasche dem alten Hund die Augen. The dog (dem alten Hund) is in the dative case, and the body part (die Augen) takes a definite article rather than a possessive pronoun.
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