Breakdown of Gefiltertes Wasser schmeckt mir besser als Leitungswasser.
das Wasser
the water
mir
me
schmecken
to taste
als
than
Questions & Answers about Gefiltertes Wasser schmeckt mir besser als Leitungswasser.
Why is Gefiltertes capitalized, and why does it end in -es?
It’s capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence. Normally it would be written gefiltertes Wasser (lowercase g), since gefiltert is an adjective/participle.
The ending -es comes from adjective declension:
- gefiltert (from the verb filtern) is used like an adjective in front of Wasser.
- Wasser is neuter, singular, and here it is the subject → nominative.
- There is no article (das, ein, dieses, etc.) before it.
With no article before a neuter noun in the nominative singular, an attributive adjective takes the strong ending -es:
- gefiltertes Wasser – filtered water (nominative/accusative, no article)
Compare:
- das gefilterte Wasser – the filtered water
- mit gefiltertem Wasser – with filtered water (dative)
- kein gefiltertes Wasser – no filtered water
So: Gefiltertes = capitalized because of sentence position, -es because of strong adjective ending before neuter Wasser.
Why is it schmeckt mir and not schmeckt mich?