I have a problem to use ersatz as an adjective. *puzzled* 

6 hours ago, Aditus said:

I have a problem to use ersatz as an adjective. *puzzled* 

my German knowledge is pitiful but my understanding is German nouns can be “adjectivised” but the form changes - adding an “e” at the end? - whereas in English the word form is often unchanged e.g. “ersatz” in this case, or “management” (n) and “management style” (adj. but sometimes termed an adjectival noun or noun adjunct), “garden” (n) and “garden variety” and countless other examples

…but sometimes in English the word form does change and becomes a different word  (just to confuse English learners - native as well as non-native ) e.g. “rudder” (n) and “rudderless” (adj)

This process in English happens through coinage (a neologism that in this instance describes itself i.e. the process of neologising… eeek! ) either by invention (e.g. Shakespeare) or stealing from another language (German in this case) and, if it is widely adopted, then becomes standard English 

Hope this helps    
 

@Zombie Well, the 'e' irritates my inner red pen.  Nouns can be adjectivised by  adding an 'ig', but that almost always calls for the red pen again 'tischig', 'ersatzig' *shudder*. The chair looks 'tischig' (like a table), tablish? Everyone would know what  I mean, but grammatically, it would be horribly wrong. If we change the word form it becomes a different word, too, in this case ersatzslos, (without replacement) or ersetzbar (replaceable). And then we have our famous compound words, Ersatzmann, or in @Mrsgnomie's case, Ersatzmilch.

Thank you for the explanation, Zombie  ,but in this case, I think I will  avoid ersatz.

20 hours ago, Aditus said:

I have a problem to use ersatz as an adjective. *puzzled* 

I feel you. It makes my toenails roll up. LOL