12.13 Unusual German adjectives

Adjectives formed from towns and cities

Adjectives expressing the names of German towns and cities are formed by adding "-er" to the name of the place. In some instances such as Dresden and München, the final vowel in the name of the city disappears in the adjectival form. Other city adjectives such as those derived from the Eastern German cities of Halle and Jena need to be learned separately.
 

Notes

1. All adjectives formed from towns and cities start with a capital letter.

 

2. only one country also forms an adjective in this way: the adjective "Schweizer" (= Swiss) comes from adding "-er" to "die Schweiz". A second Swiss adjective "schweizerisch" also exists - this word does not start with a capital letter (see below). The full list of adjectives of nationality can be found in Chapter 7.8.