German Frame-Semantic Online Lexicon

Frame:

Frame description

This frame has to do with a Cognizer who is familiar with an Entity; this means the Cognizer has seen or experienced the Entity a number of times, causing the Entity to be recognizable to the Cognizer, to some Degree.

Examples:

1. Kennst du Hannah?	1. Do you know Hannah?
2. Mit ihr war ein junger Mann, der mir vage bekannt vorkam.	2. With her was a young man, who to me appeared vaguely familiar.
3. Das ist mir völlig neu!	3. That is to me totally new!

Frame Elements

Frame Element descriptions (on hover):

Cognizer

The person to whom the Entity is familiar.

Entity

A concrete thing, abstract phenomenon or fact that is (to some Degree) recognizable and thus familiar to the Cognizer.

Degree

How familiar the Cognizer is with the Entity.

Thinking: Familiarity

Details

Examples

Grammar Notes

Sentence Templates

Alternate Forms

See All Information

auskennen: sich auskennen

verb

to know one's way around, to be well informed

Details:

to know one's way around (a place), to be well informed (about something), to be experienced (with something)

This reflexive verb is used to indicate that the Cognizer is very familiar with the Entity because of their experience with it. There is no perfect translation in English, but "sich auskennen" is similar in meaning to "to know one's way around." In the Familiarity frame, the Entity is most often a place. Thus, "sich auskennen" is commonly used with a locative phrase (i.e. one that describes a location) to encode the Entity, such as "da" ("there"), "in dieser Stadt" ("in this town") or "an diesem Ort" ("at this place"). A variety of prepositions that describe location can be used to introduce the Entity, but "in" ("in") is the most common.

It is also possible to use a prepositional phrase with "mit" ("with") or "bei" ("at, with") with "sich auskennen," e.g. "Ich kenne mich mit Computern aus" ("I know my way around computers") or "Ich kenne mich bei Frauen aus" ("I know my way around women"). However, these uses typically refer to an entity in a general way, as a Topic. Thus these are better characterized as instances of a different frame that involves understanding.

Further details:

Synonyms:

"Bescheid wissen," "den Durchblick haben," "ganz in seinem Element sein," "(bestens) vertraut sein mit," among others

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„auskennen“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/auskennen>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

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Example Sentences:

Hier kenne ich mich nicht aus.
Sebastian kennt sich da gut aus.
Julie war froh, dass ihre Freunde sich in Berlin gut auskannten.
Auch auf der Trainingsfläche muss man sich auskennen.

Here, I don't know my way around.
Sebastian knows his way around there well.
Julie was happy that her friends knew their way around in Berlin.
Also on the training area, one must know one's way around.

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Grammar:

Verbs with Separable Prefixes

Some verbs have a prefix that moves around in the sentence, depending on what form the verb takes. You can expect the prefix to appear at the end of the sentence or clause, but whether the verb appears there with it depends on the rest of the sentence (tense, presence of a modal verb, etc.). In the infinitive form, the prefix is attached, like "ausgehen" ("to go out"). If the verb is conjugated (in present or simple past tense), the prefix appears at the end of the clause, as in "Ich gehe heute Abend aus" ("I am going out tonight"). The chart below shows several structural variants for these kinds of verbs. For more information, see the examples for individual verbs in the G-FOL or read these explanations from Grimm Grammar: present tense, conversational past tense (Perfekt).

Die erste Stelle (first position)	V2 (verb 2nd)	Rest (the rest of the info)	am Ende (at the end)
Am Samstagabend	gehe	ich mit Freunden	aus.
Ich	ging	am Samstagabend mit Freunden	aus.
Mit Freunden	bin	ich am Samstagabend	ausgegangen.
Wann	gehe	ich mit Freunden	aus?
Ich	kann	nicht am Samstagabend mit Freunden	ausgehen.

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Templates with Frame Elements:

COGNIZER kennt sich in ENTITY aus.
COGNIZER kennt sich da / hier aus.

COGNIZER knows their way around ENTITY.
COGNIZER knows their way around there / here.

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Details:

to know one's way around (a place), to be well informed (about something), to be experienced (with something)

This reflexive verb is used to indicate that the Cognizer is very familiar with the Entity because of their experience with it. There is no perfect translation in English, but "sich auskennen" is similar in meaning to "to know one's way around." In the Familiarity frame, the Entity is most often a place. Thus, "sich auskennen" is commonly used with a locative phrase (i.e. one that describes a location) to encode the Entity, such as "da" ("there"), "in dieser Stadt" ("in this town") or "an diesem Ort" ("at this place"). A variety of prepositions that describe location can be used to introduce the Entity, but "in" ("in") is the most common.

It is also possible to use a prepositional phrase with "mit" ("with") or "bei" ("at, with") with "sich auskennen," e.g. "Ich kenne mich mit Computern aus" ("I know my way around computers") or "Ich kenne mich bei Frauen aus" ("I know my way around women"). However, these uses typically refer to an entity in a general way, as a Topic. Thus these are better characterized as instances of a different frame that involves understanding.

Further details:

Synonyms:

"Bescheid wissen," "den Durchblick haben," "ganz in seinem Element sein," "(bestens) vertraut sein mit," among others

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„auskennen“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/auskennen>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

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Alternate Forms:

(er) kennt sich aus, kannte sich aus, hat sich ausgekannt

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bekannt

adjective

known, familiar, acquainted

Details:

known, familiar, acquainted

Related to the verb "kennen" ("to know"), this adjective for "known" is applied to the Entity, with or without the Cognizer present. When used without mentioning a Cognizer, "bekannt" has a very general meaning: that the Entity is well known (by many people). If a Cognizer is mentioned, it appears in the dative case, as in "diese Theorie ist mir bekannt" ("this theory is to me known"). Alternatively, the Cognizer can be the subject of the verb "sein" ("to be"), and the Entity appears after "mit" ("with"). In this case, "bekannt" is better translated as "acquainted." See the sentence templates.

The common expression "bekannt vorkommen," is used to say that something seems familiar. It is used with the Entity as subject and the Cognizer in the dative case, just as described above. For example, "seine Stimme kam mir bekannt vor" translates to "his voice seemed familiar to me" (literally: "his voice appears to me known").

When this adjective is made into a noun, "der / die Bekannte" ("male / female acquaintance") it evokes the Personal Relationship frame. Additional related expressions, "bekannt geben" ("to notify") and "bekannt machen" ("to make known"), evoke Communication.

Further details:

Word formation:

"allbekannt" ("known to all," "universal"), "altbekannt" ("well-known," "known already for a long time"), "polizeibekannt" ("known to the police"), "stadtbekannt" ("notorious," "known all over town"), "unbekannt" ("unknown," "nameless," "fameless"), "weltbekannt" ("famous," "world-famous"), "die Bekanntheit" ("high profile," "public awareness"), "der Bekanntheitsgrad" ("degree, level of familiarity")

Synonyms:

"familiär," "vertraut," "weit verbreitet / weitverbreitet," "berühmt"

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„bekannt“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/bekannt>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

This word is part of the vocabulary for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1.

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Example Sentences:

Der Bürgermeister ist in Dortmund gut bekannt.
Ernst Bloch war ein bekannter Philosoph.
Die Schadenshöhe des Feuers ist noch nicht bekannt.
Hauke ist mit ihm gut bekannt.
Mozart ist vielleicht der bekannteste Komponist.
Mit ihr war ein junger Mann, der mir vage bekannt vorkam.

The mayor is in Dortmund well known.
Ernst Bloch was a well known philosopher.
The extent of the damage of the fire is still not known.
Hauke is with him well acquainted.
Mozart is perhaps the best known composer.
With her was a young man, who to me appeared vaguely familiar.

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Grammar:

Adjectives in Action

There are two main ways to use adjectives in German that parallel the ways adjectives are used in English:

Firstly, you can use them after some form of "sein" ("to be"), as in "Adjektive sind faszinierend" ("adjectives are fascinating"). This one is easy. Other verbs like "werden" ("to become") may be used in this context also. We call these "predicate adjectives" because they appear after the verb to give information about the subject.

Secondly, you can use adjectives directly before a noun, as in "die eifersüchtige Frau" ("the jealous woman/wife"). In this context, we call it an "attributive adjective" because it directly attributes some quality to the noun. These can be a little tricky because they require an extra adjective ending, typically "-e" or "-en."

These usages are illustrated in the table below.

	Predicate Adjectives	Attributive Adjectives
1.	Sara ist arbeitslos. Sara is unemployed.	Saras arbeitsloser Mann sucht einen Job. Sara's unemployed* husband is looking for a job.*
2.	Der Kunde wurde wütend. The customer became angry.	Der wütende Kunde verließ den Laden. The angry* customer left the store.*
3.	Viele deutsche Wähler sind gut informiert. Many German voters are well informed.	Informierte Wähler sind wichtig für eine Demokratie. Informed voters are important for a democracy.

Depending on how advanced you are in German, you may want to delve into the wonders of adjective endings (for highly motivated, grammar-oriented or advanced students), or you may want to simply note that they have an "e" (or more) at the end and move on with your life (recommended for those in the first or second year of study). If you so desire, you can learn more about using adjective endings in Grimm Grammar (after der-words, after ein-words, without articles).

Comparisons using Adjectives
In the Alternate Forms tab, you can see the comparative (e.g. "gut" - "besser," "good" - "better") and superlative (e.g. "gut" - "am besten," "good" - "the best") forms of an adjective. German and English are similar in their uses of comparative; both languages add an "-er" ending to make comparative forms, for example: "wütend, wütender" ("angry, angrier"), "informiert, informierter" ("informed, more informed"), etc. The main difference is that English sometimes does not allow such an ending (e.g. *"stupider," *"informeder," *"loster"), but in German, the "-er" ending is always possible, and "more" does NOT appear with an adjective to convey the comparative meaning. There are a few more rules for German comparatives and superlatives (including some irregular forms) that you can read about in Grimm Grammar.

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Templates with Frame Elements:

ENTITY ist bekannt.
ENTITY ist COGNIZER.dative bekannt.
COGNIZER ist mit ENTITY bekannt.
[bekannt- ENTITY]
ENTITY kommt COGNIZER.dative bekannt vor.

ENTITY is known.
ENTITY is to COGNIZER known.
COGNIZER is with ENTITY acquainted.
[known ENTITY]
ENTITY appears familiar to COGNIZER.

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Details:

known, familiar, acquainted

Related to the verb "kennen" ("to know"), this adjective for "known" is applied to the Entity, with or without the Cognizer present. When used without mentioning a Cognizer, "bekannt" has a very general meaning: that the Entity is well known (by many people). If a Cognizer is mentioned, it appears in the dative case, as in "diese Theorie ist mir bekannt" ("this theory is to me known"). Alternatively, the Cognizer can be the subject of the verb "sein" ("to be"), and the Entity appears after "mit" ("with"). In this case, "bekannt" is better translated as "acquainted." See the sentence templates.

The common expression "bekannt vorkommen," is used to say that something seems familiar. It is used with the Entity as subject and the Cognizer in the dative case, just as described above. For example, "seine Stimme kam mir bekannt vor" translates to "his voice seemed familiar to me" (literally: "his voice appears to me known").

When this adjective is made into a noun, "der / die Bekannte" ("male / female acquaintance") it evokes the Personal Relationship frame. Additional related expressions, "bekannt geben" ("to notify") and "bekannt machen" ("to make known"), evoke Communication.

Further details:

Word formation:

"allbekannt" ("known to all," "universal"), "altbekannt" ("well-known," "known already for a long time"), "polizeibekannt" ("known to the police"), "stadtbekannt" ("notorious," "known all over town"), "unbekannt" ("unknown," "nameless," "fameless"), "weltbekannt" ("famous," "world-famous"), "die Bekanntheit" ("high profile," "public awareness"), "der Bekanntheitsgrad" ("degree, level of familiarity")

Synonyms:

"familiär," "vertraut," "weit verbreitet / weitverbreitet," "berühmt"

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„bekannt“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/bekannt>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

This word is part of the vocabulary for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1.

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Alternate Forms:

bekannter, am bekanntesten

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kennen

verb

to know

Details:

to know

In contrast to “wissen” (“to know”), which is used to describe awareness of facts about the world, the verb “kennen” (“to know”) is used to describe familiarity with a person, place or other complex Entity. Thus, “kennen” evokes the Familiarity frame while “wissen” evokes the Awareness frame.

So when expressing what you "know" in German, you have to think about the nature of your knowledge. Is it knowledge of a complex entity? Knowledge that cannot be stored in your mental model of the world as a data point? Something whose nature and ways you know by experience? If this is the case, then “kennen” is the verb you want. If, on the other hand, it is a fact that you hold in your mental model of the world, then you should use “wissen” instead.

Further details:

Word formation:

"der Kenner / die Kennerin" ("male / female connoisseur," "initiate," "adept"), "die Kenntnis" ("knowledge (of)," "acquaintance," "proficiency"), "kennenlernen / kennen lernen" ("to get to know"), "(sich) auskennen" ("to know one's stuff," "to know a thing or two about sth.," "to know the ropes"), "erkennen" ("to recognize," "to realize," "to see sth."), "verkennen" ("to misjudge," "to misconceive"), among others

Synonyms:

"verstehen," "wissen," "nachvollziehen," "über Kenntnisse verfügen"

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„kennen“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/kennen>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

This word is part of the vocabulary for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1.

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Example Sentences:

Ich kenne diese Stadt gar nicht.
Kennst du Hannah?
Kennen Sie hier ein gutes Geschäft?
Maja kennt den Präsidenten persönlich.
Ich kenne die Spieler, ich kenne den Verein.
Der Westen kannte damals noch keinen islamistischen Terror.
Sie ist immer noch deine Mutter, der Mensch, den du kanntest.
Kennen Sie diese Frau? – Nein, leider nicht.
Ich kenne das Wort nicht.

I know this town not at all.
Do you know Hannah?
Do you know here a good store?
Maja knows the president personally.
I know the players, I know the club.
The west knew back then still no Islamic terror.
She is still your mother, the person whom you knew.
Do you know this woman? - No, unfortunately not.
I don't know this word.

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Templates with Frame Elements:

COGNIZER kennt ENTITY.
COGNIZER kennt ENTITY DEGREE.adverb.
COGNIZER kennt ENTITY an ENTITYs Stimme / usw.

COGNIZER knows ENTITY.
COGNIZER knows ENTITY DEGREE.adverb.
COGNIZER knows ENTITY by ENTITY's voice / etc.

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Details:

to know

In contrast to “wissen” (“to know”), which is used to describe awareness of facts about the world, the verb “kennen” (“to know”) is used to describe familiarity with a person, place or other complex Entity. Thus, “kennen” evokes the Familiarity frame while “wissen” evokes the Awareness frame.

So when expressing what you "know" in German, you have to think about the nature of your knowledge. Is it knowledge of a complex entity? Knowledge that cannot be stored in your mental model of the world as a data point? Something whose nature and ways you know by experience? If this is the case, then “kennen” is the verb you want. If, on the other hand, it is a fact that you hold in your mental model of the world, then you should use “wissen” instead.

Further details:

Word formation:

"der Kenner / die Kennerin" ("male / female connoisseur," "initiate," "adept"), "die Kenntnis" ("knowledge (of)," "acquaintance," "proficiency"), "kennenlernen / kennen lernen" ("to get to know"), "(sich) auskennen" ("to know one's stuff," "to know a thing or two about sth.," "to know the ropes"), "erkennen" ("to recognize," "to realize," "to see sth."), "verkennen" ("to misjudge," "to misconceive"), among others

Synonyms:

"verstehen," "wissen," "nachvollziehen," "über Kenntnisse verfügen"

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„kennen“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/kennen>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

This word is part of the vocabulary for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1.

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Alternate Forms:

(er) kennt, kannte, hat gekannt

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neu

adjective

new

Details:

new

In the Thinking: Familiarity frame, "neu" ("new") applies when the Cognizer has not been familiar with the Entity for very long. Typically, the interpretation includes the idea that the Cognizer's understanding or experience was different before the Entity came along, for example with "neue Informationen" ("new information"), which implies that the previous information was different, and says nothing about how long the information existed.

Note that "neu" ("new") more often evokes the Age frame, where the interpretation is that the Entity has only existed for a short time (or has only existed in a certain capacity for a short time).

Further details:

Word formation:

"das Neuland" ("reclaimed land," "virgin soil," "Neuland betreten:" "to be in unchartered waters"), "der Neuling" ("freshman," "recruit," "newcomer," "novice"), "die Neuigkeit" ("news," "novelty"), "neuartig" ("novel," "new"), among others

Synonyms:

"(noch) nie / nicht dagewesen," "frisch," "innovativ," "neuartig," "originell," "unbewandert," "unbedarft," "unerfahren," "andersartig," "fremd," among others

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„neu“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/neu>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

This word is part of the vocabulary for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1.

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Example Sentences:

Es gibt heute keine neuen Nachrichten.
Das ist mir völlig neu!
"Krieg und Frieden" war auch für mich neu.
In Rheinland-Pfalz sind neue fragwürdige Spenden aufgetaucht.
Man wollte wissen, ob die neuen Informationen die demokratische Präsidentschaftskandidatin zerstören würden.
Wir sind neu hier. Wir möchten Sie kennenlernen.
Wie heißt die neue Kollegin?

There are today no new news.
That is to me totally new!
"War and Peace" was also for me new.
In Rheinland-Pfalz have new questionable donations appeared.
One wanted to know, whether the new information would destroy the democratic presidential candidate.
We are new here. We want to get to know you.
What is the name of the new female colleague?

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Grammar:

Adjectives in Action

There are two main ways to use adjectives in German that parallel the ways adjectives are used in English:

Firstly, you can use them after some form of "sein" ("to be"), as in "Adjektive sind faszinierend" ("adjectives are fascinating"). This one is easy. Other verbs like "werden" ("to become") may be used in this context also. We call these "predicate adjectives" because they appear after the verb to give information about the subject.

Secondly, you can use adjectives directly before a noun, as in "die eifersüchtige Frau" ("the jealous woman/wife"). In this context, we call it an "attributive adjective" because it directly attributes some quality to the noun. These can be a little tricky because they require an extra adjective ending, typically "-e" or "-en."

These usages are illustrated in the table below.

	Predicate Adjectives	Attributive Adjectives
1.	Sara ist arbeitslos. Sara is unemployed.	Saras arbeitsloser Mann sucht einen Job. Sara's unemployed* husband is looking for a job.*
2.	Der Kunde wurde wütend. The customer became angry.	Der wütende Kunde verließ den Laden. The angry* customer left the store.*
3.	Viele deutsche Wähler sind gut informiert. Many German voters are well informed.	Informierte Wähler sind wichtig für eine Demokratie. Informed voters are important for a democracy.

Depending on how advanced you are in German, you may want to delve into the wonders of adjective endings (for highly motivated, grammar-oriented or advanced students), or you may want to simply note that they have an "e" (or more) at the end and move on with your life (recommended for those in the first or second year of study). If you so desire, you can learn more about using adjective endings in Grimm Grammar (after der-words, after ein-words, without articles).

Comparisons using Adjectives
In the Alternate Forms tab, you can see the comparative (e.g. "gut" - "besser," "good" - "better") and superlative (e.g. "gut" - "am besten," "good" - "the best") forms of an adjective. German and English are similar in their uses of comparative; both languages add an "-er" ending to make comparative forms, for example: "wütend, wütender" ("angry, angrier"), "informiert, informierter" ("informed, more informed"), etc. The main difference is that English sometimes does not allow such an ending (e.g. *"stupider," *"informeder," *"loster"), but in German, the "-er" ending is always possible, and "more" does NOT appear with an adjective to convey the comparative meaning. There are a few more rules for German comparatives and superlatives (including some irregular forms) that you can read about in Grimm Grammar.

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Templates with Frame Elements:

ENTITY ist neu.
ENTITY ist COGNIZER.dative neu.
ENTITY ist für COGNIZER neu.
[neu- ENTITY]

ENTITY is new.
ENTITY is to COGNIZER new.
ENTITY is for COGNIZER new.
[new ENTITY]

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Details:

new

In the Thinking: Familiarity frame, "neu" ("new") applies when the Cognizer has not been familiar with the Entity for very long. Typically, the interpretation includes the idea that the Cognizer's understanding or experience was different before the Entity came along, for example with "neue Informationen" ("new information"), which implies that the previous information was different, and says nothing about how long the information existed.

Note that "neu" ("new") more often evokes the Age frame, where the interpretation is that the Entity has only existed for a short time (or has only existed in a certain capacity for a short time).

Further details:

Word formation:

"das Neuland" ("reclaimed land," "virgin soil," "Neuland betreten:" "to be in unchartered waters"), "der Neuling" ("freshman," "recruit," "newcomer," "novice"), "die Neuigkeit" ("news," "novelty"), "neuartig" ("novel," "new"), among others

Synonyms:

"(noch) nie / nicht dagewesen," "frisch," "innovativ," "neuartig," "originell," "unbewandert," "unbedarft," "unerfahren," "andersartig," "fremd," among others

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„neu“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/neu>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

This word is part of the vocabulary for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1.

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Alternate Forms:

neuer, am neu(e)sten

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unbekannt

adjective

unknown, unfamiliar

Details:

unkown, unfamiliar

This adjective is applied to an Entity, e.g. "er ist unbekannt" ("he is unknown"), and the Cognizer (if present at all) is realized using the dative case. When the Cognizer is absent, a general interpretation is assumed, for example, "die Band ist relativ unbekannt" ("the band is relatively unknown").

Further details:

Word formation:

"unbekannterweise" ("anonymously," "not knowing so. / sth."), "das Unbekannte" ("the unknown")

Synonyms:

"anonym," "fremd," "(ein) unbeschriebenes Blatt" (lit. "a paper that has not been written on"), "exotisch," "fremdartig," "neu," among others

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„unbekannt“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/unbekannt>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

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Example Sentences:

Der Täter ist unbekannt.
Der Inhalt des Berichts ist noch unbekannt.
2008 war die damalige Gouverneurin von Alaska relativ unbekannt in den USA.
Nicht viele Deutsche entscheiden sich für den recht unbekannten Beruf als Vergolder.
Diese Stadt sollte meine Heimat sein, aber sie kam mir unbekannt vor.
Ein mir unbekanntes Geräusch ließ die Luft vibrieren.
Was ich darin sah, war mir unbekannt.

The perpetrator is unknown.
The content of the report is still unknown.
In 2008, the then governor of Alaska was relatively unknown in the USA.
Not many Germans choose the quite unknown profession of gilder.
This city was supposed to be my home, but it appeared to me unfamiliar.
A to me unfamiliar noise made the air vibrate.
What I saw in there was to me unfamiliar.

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Grammar:

Adjectives in Action

There are two main ways to use adjectives in German that parallel the ways adjectives are used in English:

Firstly, you can use them after some form of "sein" ("to be"), as in "Adjektive sind faszinierend" ("adjectives are fascinating"). This one is easy. Other verbs like "werden" ("to become") may be used in this context also. We call these "predicate adjectives" because they appear after the verb to give information about the subject.

Secondly, you can use adjectives directly before a noun, as in "die eifersüchtige Frau" ("the jealous woman/wife"). In this context, we call it an "attributive adjective" because it directly attributes some quality to the noun. These can be a little tricky because they require an extra adjective ending, typically "-e" or "-en."

These usages are illustrated in the table below.

	Predicate Adjectives	Attributive Adjectives
1.	Sara ist arbeitslos. Sara is unemployed.	Saras arbeitsloser Mann sucht einen Job. Sara's unemployed* husband is looking for a job.*
2.	Der Kunde wurde wütend. The customer became angry.	Der wütende Kunde verließ den Laden. The angry* customer left the store.*
3.	Viele deutsche Wähler sind gut informiert. Many German voters are well informed.	Informierte Wähler sind wichtig für eine Demokratie. Informed voters are important for a democracy.

Depending on how advanced you are in German, you may want to delve into the wonders of adjective endings (for highly motivated, grammar-oriented or advanced students), or you may want to simply note that they have an "e" (or more) at the end and move on with your life (recommended for those in the first or second year of study). If you so desire, you can learn more about using adjective endings in Grimm Grammar (after der-words, after ein-words, without articles).

Comparisons using Adjectives
In the Alternate Forms tab, you can see the comparative (e.g. "gut" - "besser," "good" - "better") and superlative (e.g. "gut" - "am besten," "good" - "the best") forms of an adjective. German and English are similar in their uses of comparative; both languages add an "-er" ending to make comparative forms, for example: "wütend, wütender" ("angry, angrier"), "informiert, informierter" ("informed, more informed"), etc. The main difference is that English sometimes does not allow such an ending (e.g. *"stupider," *"informeder," *"loster"), but in German, the "-er" ending is always possible, and "more" does NOT appear with an adjective to convey the comparative meaning. There are a few more rules for German comparatives and superlatives (including some irregular forms) that you can read about in Grimm Grammar.

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Templates with Frame Elements:

ENTITY ist unbekannt.
ENTITY ist COGNIZER.dative unbekannt.
[unbekannt- ENTITY]
[COGNIZER.dative unbekannt- ENTITY]
ENTITY kommt COGNIZER.dative unbekannt vor.

ENTITY is unknown.
ENTITY is to COGNIZER unknown.
[unknown ENTITY]
[to COGNIZER unknown ENTITY]
ENTITY appears to COGNIZER unknown.

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Details:

unkown, unfamiliar

This adjective is applied to an Entity, e.g. "er ist unbekannt" ("he is unknown"), and the Cognizer (if present at all) is realized using the dative case. When the Cognizer is absent, a general interpretation is assumed, for example, "die Band ist relativ unbekannt" ("the band is relatively unknown").

Further details:

Word formation:

"unbekannterweise" ("anonymously," "not knowing so. / sth."), "das Unbekannte" ("the unknown")

Synonyms:

"anonym," "fremd," "(ein) unbeschriebenes Blatt" (lit. "a paper that has not been written on"), "exotisch," "fremdartig," "neu," among others

More information in DWDS, the digital dictionary of the German language:

„unbekannt“, bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wb/unbekannt>, abgerufen am 18.02.2022.

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Alternate Forms:

unbekannter, am unbekanntesten

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