Syntax of “Immer das passende Geschenk!”

Question

I have a flyer in my hand. Its main slogan, very big and opulent, is the sentence:

Immer das pasende Geschenk!

Immer das pasende Geschenk!

I’ve tried to figure out its grammar but I’ve got stuck in the middle.

Why the termination for the adjective passend is e, while that das suggests that Geschenk is neutral (and it is)?
Where is the verb?
What mode is this? It has an exclamation mark but is not imperative.

This sentence seems to violate everything I’ve learned about sentences. What is happening here (syntactically)?

It is just an ellipsis as you will often see it in slogans or ads. The complete sentence could be, for example "Finden Sie immer das passende Geschenk" or "Immer das passende Geschenk kaufen". — Œlrim, Nov 03 '15 at 12:15
Than why das passende Geschenk? Note the das and the passend__e__ — Tiberiu C., Nov 03 '15 at 12:18
Geschenk is neuter and -e is the correct adjective suffix for the definite nominative or accusative case (just like das große Haus) — Œlrim, Nov 03 '15 at 12:21
It’s not a full sentence because it doesn’t have a full verb. — Jan, Nov 03 '15 at 12:28
The canonical question abiut strong and weak adjective declension: http://german.stackexchange.com/questions/25357/same-noun-same-case-same-adjective-different-ending-what-are-the-rules-behi — chirlu, Nov 03 '15 at 12:39

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 03 '15 at 12:31

3

A few possibilities for how these ellipses could be completed:

Both the nominative and accusative cases imply the suffix -e on adjectives referring to das Geschenk.

answered Nov 03 '15 at 12:31

Œlrim

3

Ich finde die Satzstellung hier klingt seltsam: "Immer das passende Geschenk finden Sie bei uns!" Besser wäre meiner Ansicht nach: "Bei uns finden Sie immer das passende Geschenk." – Iris Nov 03 '15 at 12:33
The accusative is unlikely. Replace "Geschenk" by some masculine noun, say "Anzug", and you see that the slogan "Immer der passende Anzug!" (nom.) looks a lot more idiomatic than "Immer den passenden Anzug!" (acc.) – Uwe Nov 03 '15 at 18:17

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 03 '15 at 12:23

2

It is normal to put an "e" as termination for the adjective in front of a neutral noun. for example:

Das verletzte Kind
Das grosse Haus
Das schöne Wetter

and so on.

There is no verb because it is a slogan.

answered Nov 03 '15 at 12:23

M.Zuberbühler

2

Your statement about declension is too general, as you will find when considering ein verletztes Kind etc. – chirlu Nov 03 '15 at 12:32

2 Answers2