Mastering German Adjective Endings: Comprehensive Declension Rules & Common Pitfalls

Learning German adjective endings (adjective declensions) is often considered one of the more challenging aspects of German grammar. Adjectives in German change their endings based on the gender, case, and number of the noun they describe, as well as the presence or absence of an article. This guide is designed for intermediate and advanced German learners and will break down the rules for German adjective endings in all four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) for masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural nouns. We’ll provide full declension tables for adjectives after definite articles, after indefinite articles, and with no article, along with example sentences for each case and gender. You’ll also find explanations for why certain endings are used in each context, tips to avoid common mistakes, and some handy mnemonics and learning strategies to make mastering adjective declensions easier.

Before we dive in, a quick note: if you’re not yet comfortable with the German case system or with the basics of der, die, das, it’s important to solidify that foundation first. German adjective endings only make sense once you understand how the four cases work and how articles indicate gender and case. (Feel free to check out our guide on the four German cases for a refresher.) Also, remember that adjective endings are only applied when the adjective comes before a noun – if the adjective follows the noun (predicative position), no ending is added. For example, Das Geschäft ist geschlossen (“The shop is closed”) has geschlossen after the verb and no ending, but das geschlossene Geschäft (“the closed shop”) would require an adjective ending because geschlossene comes before the noun.

Rules on adjective declensions in German

If you're at the early stages of learning German, at A1 level, you might find my explanation a bit too technical. You might want to consult my beginner's guide on adjective declensions instead. If you're at elementary level (A2) or beyond, keep on reading.

Table of Contents

• Understanding When Adjectives Change

• Adjective Endings After Definite Articles (Der, Die, Das)

• Adjective Endings After Indefinite Articles (Ein, Eine)

• Adjective Endings with No Article (Strong Endings)

• Full Adjective Declension Tables

• Example Sentences for Every Case and Gender

• Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• Tips, Mnemonics, and Strategies for Learning Adjective Endings

• Boost Your German with Olesen Tuition

Understanding When Adjectives Change

In German, only adjectives that precede a noun (attributive adjectives) take endings. If an adjective comes after the noun (as in X ist [adjective]), it stays unchanged. For example:

• Das rote Auto steht dort. (“The red car is standing there.” – rote has an ending because it comes before Auto.)

• Das Auto ist rot. (“The car is red.” – rot has no ending because it comes after ist.)

When an adjective is before a noun, its ending must indicate the gender, number, and case of that noun – essentially acting as an extra marker, alongside any article, to show the noun’s role in the sentence. There are three scenarios to consider for adjective endings:

1. Definite article + adjective + noun (e.g. der große Mann)

2. Indefinite article + adjective + noun (e.g. ein großer Mann)

3. No article + adjective + noun (e.g. großer Mann)

Each scenario follows a specific pattern for adjective declension. In the sections below, we’ll look at each scenario in detail.

Adjective Endings After Definite Articles (Der, Die, Das)

When an adjective follows a definite article (der, die, das, and their plural die), the adjective takes what’s often called the “weak” ending. The default adjective ending in this scenario is -en. In fact, for all plural cases and for most singular cases (everything except the nominative of singular nouns and a special case for feminine/neuter accusative), the adjective will end in -en:

• In masculine accusative, and in all dative and genitive forms (masc./fem./neut./plural), the adjective ending is -en.

• In plural, regardless of case, the adjective ending is -en.

The exceptions – where the adjective does not take -en – occur in the singular nominative for all genders, and additionally in the feminine and neuter singular accusative. These are the places where the definite articles (der, die, das) already clearly show the gender and case of the noun. Because the definite article is very specific in these forms, the adjective doesn’t need a strong ending; instead, it uses a simpler ending -e in those cases. In other words, whenever der, die, or das is doing the job of marking the gender and case, the adjective just takes -e.

• Definite Article ‘der/die/das’ provides clear gender/case: In nominative singular (all genders) and accusative singular feminine/neuter, the article already indicates the gender/case unambiguously (e.g. der Mann, die Frau, das Kind). Thus, the adjective ends in -e in these cases. For example: der große Mann (“the big man”), die große Frau (“the big woman”), das große Haus (“the big house”). Here der/die/das make it clear which case/gender we have, so groß just takes -e.

• All other forms: In cases where the definite article either changes form or doesn’t exist (plural die is the same for nom./acc.), the convention is that the adjective takes -en. For example: den großen Mann (masculine accusative), dem großen Mann (masculine dative), den großen Männern (plural dative), der großen Frau (feminine dative/genitive), etc. In these, the article might change (der → den/dem/des, etc.) but the rule is simply that outside of the specific exceptions mentioned above, -en is the go-to ending in the

  definite article scenario.

To illustrate, here is the full declension table for an adjective after definite articles (using groß + Mann/Frau/Auto/Männer as examples):

Case	Masculine (der)	Feminine (die)	Neuter (das)	Plural (die)
Nom.	der große Mann	die große Frau	das große Auto	die großen Männer
Acc.	den großen Mann	die große Frau	das große Auto	die großen Männer
Dat.	dem großen Mann	der großen Frau	dem großen Auto	den großen Männern
Gen.	des großen Mannes	der großen Frau	des großen Autos	der großen Männer

Notice the pattern: the only time you see -e endings is in the nominative singular (der/große Mann, die/große Frau, das/große Auto) and the accusative singular feminine (die/große Frau) and neuter (das/große Auto). Every other slot has -en (großen). This is because der/die/das are gender-specific in those nominative forms, so the adjective doesn’t need to add extra information. By contrast, when the article changes or isn’t uniquely identifying gender (like den, dem, des or any plural die), the adjective often takes -en as a kind of default ending.

Example (Definite articles):

• Der kleine Hund schläft. – Nominative masculine (der + kleine): “The small dog is sleeping.”

• Ich sehe die kleine Katze. – Accusative feminine (die + kleine): “I see the small cat.”

• Wir helfen dem großen Mann. – Dative masculine (dem + großen): “We are helping the tall man.”

• Die großen Häuser stehen am Marktplatz. – Nominative plural (die + großen): “The big houses stand in the market square.”

In all those examples, you can check that the adjective endings correspond to the rule: -e in nominative singular (and fem. acc.), -en elsewhere.

Why this pattern? With definite articles, the heavy lifting of indicating case and gender is done by the article itself (der, die, das, den, dem, des all clearly mark specific gender+case). So the adjective can be thought of as “weak” – it doesn’t need a distinct ending except a simple -e in those straightforward slots. In more complicated slots (like accusative masculine or any plural), German uses -en, which you can think of as the “default” filler ending for adjectives. Essentially, the definite article and adjective work together: exactly one of them will carry the strong ending that marks gender/case. With a definite article present, the article usually carries that strong ending (e.g. -r in der, -m in dem, etc.), so the adjective does not need to (kleine vs kleiner). Linguists sometimes describe this as the “one case-ending per noun phrase” rule – in a noun phrase like “article + adjective + noun”, there will be exactly one word that carries the distinctive case/gender ending, either the article or the adjective.

Note: Other der-words (dieser, jeder, jener, welcher, etc.) follow the same weak-ending pattern for the adjective. For example, dieses schöne Haus (“this beautiful house”) or jeder kleine Fehler (“every small mistake”) use -e on the adjective in nominative singular, just like with das. In all other cases, you’d see -en on the adjective as well (e.g. mit jedem kleinen Fehler in dative). So whenever you have a der-word before the adjective, you decline the adjective as if a definite article were there.

Adjective Endings After Indefinite Articles (Ein, Eine)

Now let’s look at adjectives following an indefinite article (ein, eine) or words like possessives (mein, dein, etc.), which work similarly. This scenario is often called “mixed” endings, because the adjective sometimes takes a strong ending and sometimes a weak ending, depending on what the article is doing.

The basic pattern is similar to the definite article scenario, with one crucial twist: the indefinite article “ein” does not show gender in the nominative masculine or neuter, nor case in the neuter accusative. For example, ein Mann could be masculine nominative, but ein is also the form for neuter nominative (ein Kind). Unlike der vs das, which are distinct, ein is ambiguous between masculine and neuter in those cases. Because of this, the adjective must step in and clarify the gender. To avoid confusion, adjectives get a strong ending in the slots where ein doesn’t clarify gender:

• In nominative masculine, ein could be masculine or neuter, so the adjective takes -er (from the definite article der) to show it’s masculine: e.g. ein großer Mann.

• In nominative neuter, ein could also be masculine or neuter, so the adjective takes -es (from das) to show neuter: e.g. ein großes Auto.

• In accusative neuter, ein (accusative neuter is same as nom.) is ambiguous, so again the adjective takes -es for neuter clarity: ein großes Auto (same form as nominative neuter).

• In accusative masculine, the article changes to einen, which clearly signals masculine accusative (it has that -en ending like den). Here, since the article einen already shows the case and gender clearly, the adjective can take the default weak ending -en as well: einen großen Mann.

For feminine singular, eine already looks different from ein, so it clearly marks feminine. Thus, feminine forms behave similarly to the definite article pattern: eine große Frau in nominative and accusative (with -e ending on the adjective, since die/eine show feminine). For masculine accusative, as noted, einen already has an -en, so the adjective also takes -en (mirroring the definite pattern). And for all dative and genitive singular forms, the indefinite articles (einem, einer, eines) have distinct endings (-m, -r, -s respectively, very much like dem, der, des). In those cases, the adjective simply takes -en (the default) because the article is carrying the case/gender information.

Lastly, indefinite articles have no plural form. You cannot say “eins” in plural. Instead, for plural we typically either use no article or use words like keine (the plural of kein, meaning “no/none”) or numbers/quantifiers. In declension tables, it’s common to show keine as the plural equivalent of ein. So we will include examples with keine for plural, which declines just like a die-word in plural.

Here is the full declension for an adjective after indefinite article (and we’ll use kein for the plural column). Again, using groß with Mann/Frau/Auto/Männer:

Case	Masc. (ein)	Fem. (eine)	Neut. (ein)	Plural※ (keine)
Nom.	ein großer Mann	eine große Frau	ein großes Auto	keine großen Männer
Acc.	einen großen Mann	eine große Frau	ein großes Auto	keine großen Männer
Dat.	einem großen Mann	einer großen Frau	einem großen Auto	keinen großen Männern
Gen.	eines großen Mannes	einer großen Frau	eines großen Autos	keiner großen Männer

※ Indefinite article does not exist in the plural. We use keine (no/none) here as a stand-in to demonstrate plural adjective endings in a “no article” context.</small>

Take note of the bold endings on the adjectives in the table. The pattern can be summarised like this: mostly -en endings (just as with definite articles), but in the slots where “ein” was not specific, the adjectives show -er (masc. nom.) or -es (neuter nom./acc.). Essentially, indefinite articles force the adjective to “pick up the slack” in identifying gender: ein großer Mann (the -er on großer tells us this is masculine), ein großes Auto (the -es on großes tells us this is neuter). By contrast, eine große Frau doesn’t need an -r on the adjective because eine already signals feminine. And einen großen Mann doesn’t need an -r or -s because einen clearly signals masc. accusative (so the adjective just takes the default -en). In plural, keine behaves like a definite article (similar to die plural), so the adjectives get weak endings (-en in all cases except nom./acc. where it’s -en anyway for plural).

Examples (Indefinite articles and similar):

• Ein kleiner Hund schläft. – Nom. masculine: “A small dog is sleeping.” (kleiner with -er indicates masculine, since ein alone was unclear).

• Habt ihr irgendeine gute Idee? – Nom. feminine: “Do you (all) have any good idea?” (irgendeine “any (kind of)”, works like eine, adjective gute has -e ending).

• Sie kauft ein neues Buch. – Acc. neuter: “She is buying a new book.” (neues with -es shows neuter accusative, since ein could have been masculine).

• Wir haben keine großen Probleme. – Nom. plural: “We have no big problems.” (keine as plural “no”, adjective großen with -en as in the plural pattern).

• Mein alter Laptop ist sehr langsam. – Nom. masculine with possessive: “My old laptop is very slow.” (mein works like ein, so alter with -er to mark masculine).

Why this pattern? Think of it this way: the adjective and article share the job of showing gender and case. With indefinite articles, the article “ein” is not as helpful (it’s missing the ending in some places), so the adjective must use a strong ending (like the ones you see on der/das) to remove ambiguity. In places where the indefinite word does have an ending (e.g. einer for dative feminine, eines for genitive masculine, etc.), the adjective can relax and use -en. This is why this category is called “mixed” – it mixes a bit of strong and weak endings.

Note: The possessive pronouns (mein, dein, sein, unser, euer, etc.) and kein (meaning “no” as in “no books”) follow the same pattern as ein. Essentially, any “ein-word” (including kein and possessives) will cause the adjective to decline in this mixed way. For example, mein neuer Chef (“my new boss”) has -er on neuer (just like ein neuer Chef would) because mein (like ein) doesn’t show gender. Unsere neuen Nachbarn (“our new neighbours”) – here unsere ends in -e, clearly a plural form, so neuen just takes -en. Keep this in mind for any such words in front of adjectives.

Also, note that in the plural, since there is no plain indefinite article, when you have an adjective with no article in plural, technically it falls under the strong ending pattern (which we’ll discuss next). But if you use kein or a number or other quantifiers (e.g. ein paar (a few), mehrere (several), einige (some)), the endings often mimic the plural definite pattern. For simplicity: kein, alle, diese (words with article-like endings) will make the adjective weak (e.g. keine großen Probleme), whereas if truly no article word is present (e.g. just viele gute Ideen – “many good ideas”), then the adjective takes strong endings. This leads us to the next scenario.

Adjective Endings with No Article (Strong Endings)

In the third scenario, an adjective is used without any article or limiting word before the noun. For example, in a phrase like guter Wein (“good wine”) or kleine Kinder (“small children”) where there’s no der/ein/mein in front. In this case, the adjective must carry all the grammatical information about case and gender by itself. These are called “strong” endings, and essentially they mirror the endings of the definite articles.

One easy way to remember strong adjective endings is: they are the same as the endings on der, die, das (but without the d-). For example, the definite articles in the nominative are der (masc, ends in -r), die (fem, ends in -e), das (neut, ends in -s), die (pl, ends in -e). Strong adjective endings in nominative are correspondingly -r, -e, -s, -e for masculine, feminine, neuter, plural. Similarly, the pattern for accusative is often quoted as -n, -e, -s, -e (mirroring den, die, das, die), for dative -m, -r, -m, -n*, and for genitive -n, -r, -n, -r. Many German students memorise this with a mnemonic: “RESE, NESE, MRMN, SRSR” – representing the adjective endings (R-E-S-E for nom.., N-E-S-E for acc.., M-R-M-N for dat., S-R-S-R for gen..). It sounds a bit funny (“ree-see, nee-see, mer-men, sir-sir”), but it does cover the pattern for strong endings. We’ll see this in the table below.

However, there is one wrinkle: in the genitive masculine and neuter singular, when no article is present, German usually adds an -s (or -es) to the noun itself to indicate genitive (e.g. Wein -> Weines, Kind -> Kindes). Since the noun is carrying an ending to mark the genitive case, the adjective in these two instances often takes a weaker ending en instead of the -s/r you might expect. This is an exception to the straightforward “just use der/das endings” rule: effectively, guter Wein (nom) becomes guten Weines (genitive) – the noun Weines has an -es, so gut only gets -en. We’ll indicate this in the table.

Here is the full declension for an adjective with no article (strong endings), again using groß and the nouns Mann/Frau/Auto/Männer:

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nom.	großer Mann	große Frau	großes Auto	große Männer
Acc.	großen Mann	große Frau	großes Auto	große Männer
Dat.	großem Mann	großer Frau	großem Auto	großen Männern
Gen.	großen Mannes※	großer Frau	großen Autos※	großer Männer

※ In genitive masculine and neuter singular, note that the noun ends in -s (or -es), and the adjective here takes -en instead of -es. For example: großen Mannes, großen Autos. This is because the noun’s -s ending already indicates the genitive case.

Looking at the table, apart from those genitive exceptions, the strong adjective endings are as predicted: Nom: (r, e, s, e), Acc: (n, e, s, e), Dat: (m, r, m, n), Gen: (n, r, n, r). If you compare that to the der/die/das table: der (r), die (e), das (s), die (e); den (n), die (e), das (s), die (e); dem (m), der (r), dem (m), den+n (n); des (s), der (r), des (s), der (r) – it’s very close, just that in genitive the adjective has -n where the article had -s, because of the noun thing we mentioned. In plural dative, we wrote -n* for the mnemonic because plural dative nouns also get an -n (e.g. Männern), but you can see in the table großen Männern – the adjective has -en, the noun -n. The principle of “one case ending per phrase” still applies: with no article, the adjective takes the strong ending; however, if the noun itself also needs an ending (as in genitive or dative plural), then the adjective doesn’t need to double up on marking that case, often resulting in -en on the adjective.

Examples (No article / strong endings):

• Guter Wein schmeckt lecker. – Nom. masculine, no article: “Good wine tastes delicious.” (guter ends in -er, showing masculine nominative).

• Ich trinke guten Wein. – Acc. masculine: “I’m drinking good wine.” (guten with -en for masculine accusative).

• Mit gutem Bier kann man anstoßen. – Dat. neuter: “With good beer, one can toast.” (gutem ends in -em, marking neuter dative, analogous to mit dem Bier)

• In großer Eile verließ er das Haus. – Dat. feminine: “In great haste he left the house.” (großer with -er for feminine dative, analogous to der Eile)

• Das Aroma guten Weines ist unvergleichlich. – Gen. masculine: “The aroma of good wine is incomparable.” (Here Wein becomes Weines in genitive, and guten* takes -en, since the noun got the -es).

• Trotz schlechter Laune lächelte sie. – Gen. feminine: “Despite bad mood, she smiled.” (schlechter with -er for feminine genitive, analogous to der Laune)

• Junge Leute reisen gern. – Nom. plural: “Young people like to travel.” (junge has -e for plural nom., no article)

• Ich suche deutsche Bücher. – Acc. plural: “I’m looking for German books.” (deutsche ends in -e for plural acc., same as plural nom.)

In all these, there was no article before the adjective, so the adjective carries the case/gender info. If you compare guter Wein (good wine) vs der gute Wein (the good wine) vs ein guter Wein (a good wine), you can see how guter is strong (no article), gute is weak (definite article present), guter is mixed (indefinite, needed the -er). It’s useful to lay a few side by side and observe the differences.

Why this pattern? Without an article or determiner to do any of the grammatical heavy lifting, the adjective must take a strong ending to show the noun’s case and gender. Essentially, the adjective behaves like a definite article in terms of endings. This is why those endings are identical to the ones in der/die/das. The guiding rule is: there must be at least one word in the noun phrase that clearly signals the case and gender. If it’s not an article, it’s going to be the adjective. And if even the adjective didn’t have an ending (say you had neither article nor adjective, just the noun), the noun itself might change (as nouns sometimes do in plural or in the genitive with -s). We saw that with Weines and Männern: the noun took an ending, so the adjective didn’t need to use a strong ending in those particular situations.

Note: Common quantifiers and words like viele (many), wenige (few), einige (some), mehrere (several), etc., when used without an article, essentially count as the “article” slot, but they don’t have specific endings like der or ein. Thus, the adjective after them takes strong endings, as if there were no article. For example, viele alte Bäume (“many old trees”) – here viele has no ending, so alte takes the strong -e plural ending. Another example: wenig gutes Wasser (“little good water”) – wenig (meaning “little [amount of]”) doesn’t show case, so gutes has -es for neuter singular. Essentially treat these quantifiers as “no article” for adjective declension purposes. (By contrast, alle acts like a definite article in plural, e.g. alle alten Bäume – alle already has an -e, so alten gets -en, a weak ending, similar to die alten Bäume.) Context will guide you, but if in doubt, fall back on the rule: one element must show the case/gender – if the quantifier doesn’t, the adjective must.

Indefinite collective nouns are often used without article. They are uncountable and have therefore no plural form.

• Uncountable concrete nouns and liquids, such as Holz (wood), Eisen (iron), Beton (concrete), Wasser (water), Öl (oil)

• abstract uncountable nouns, such as Angst, Ehrgeiz, Liebe, Mut.

• quantifiers, such as etwas (something),genug (enough), mehr (more), wenig (little), viel (a lot)l are often followed by expressions of indefinite amount

Full Adjective Declension Tables

For quick reference and summary, here are the full declension tables of adjective endings in all scenarios side by side. These tables use groß (great/big) as the adjective:

After Definite Articles (weak endings):

Case	Masc. (der)	Fem. (die)	Neut. (das)	Plural (die)
Nom.	der große Mann	die große Frau	das große Auto	die großen Männer
Acc.	den großen Mann	die große Frau	das große Auto	die großen Männer
Dat.	dem großen Mann	der großen Frau	dem großen Auto	den großen Männern
Gen.	des großen Mannes	der großen Frau	des großen Autos	der großen Männer

After Indefinite Articles (mixed endings):

Case	Masc. (ein)	Fem. (eine)	Neut. (ein)	Plural (keine)
Nom.	ein großer Mann	eine große Frau	ein großes Auto	keine großen Männer
Acc.	einen großen Mann	eine große Frau	ein großes Auto	keine großen Männer
Dat.	einem großen Mann	einer großen Frau	einem großen Auto	keinen großen Männern
Gen.	eines großen Mannes	einer großen Frau	eines großen Autos	keiner großen Männer

(Note: “keine” is used to demonstrate the plural since plain ein has no plural form.)

With No Article (strong endings):

Case	Masc. (—)	Fem. (—)	Neut. (—)	Plural (—)
Nom.	großer Mann	große Frau	großes Auto	große Männer
Acc.	großen Mann	große Frau	großes Auto	große Männer
Dat.	großem Mann	großer Frau	großem Auto	großen Männern
Gen.	großen Mannes	großer Frau	großen Autos	großer Männer

By studying these tables, you can observe how the presence or absence of an article affects the adjective. Often learners find it useful to memorise the strong endings first (since they follow the article pattern), then remember that the definite article scenario simplifies many to -e, and the indefinite scenario uses mostly the same as definite, but with -er/-es in the few ambiguous spots. Over time, these patterns will become second nature with enough practice.

Example Sentences for Every Case and Gender

To ensure we cover all four cases and the different genders, here are example sentences that demonstrate adjective endings for each case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) in masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural contexts. These examples will reinforce how the endings look in actual usage. (All examples use a noun phrase consisting of an article + adjective + noun for clarity.)

Nominative:

• Masculine: Der kleine Hund spielt im Garten. – (The small dog is playing in the garden.) 🐕 Nominative masculine uses -e on kleine (definite article scenario).

• Feminine: Die fleißige Lehrerin erklärt die Aufgabe. – (The diligent teacher is explaining the task.) 👩‍🏫 Feminine nominative uses -e on fleißige.

• Neuter: Das rote Auto steht vor dem Haus. – (The red car is parked in front of the house.) 🚗 Neuter nominative uses -e on rote.

• Plural: Die großen Häuser am Platz sind alt. – (The big houses in the square are old.) 🏘️ Plural nominative uses -en on großen (since plural always gets -en with definite article).

Accusative:

• Masculine: Ich rufe den kleinen Hund. – (I’m calling the small dog.) 📞 Masculine accusative takes -en (kleinen), matching the article den.

• Feminine: Er kennt die fleißige Lehrerin. – (He knows the diligent teacher.) 👨‍🎓 Feminine accusative looks like nominative: fleißige -e (since die is same in acc.).

• Neuter: Wir kaufen das rote Auto. – (We are buying the red car.) 💰 Neuter accusative is identical to neut. nominative: rote -e (article das unchanged).

• Plural: Sie putzen die großen Häuser. – (They are cleaning the big houses.) 🧹 Plural accusative uses -en on großen (as plural def. article die doesn’t change case, but adjective stays -en).

Dative:

• Masculine: Ich gebe dem kleinen Hund Wasser. – (I give water to the small dog.) 💧 Dative masculine: kleinen -en (article dem shows dative, adjective gets -en).

• Feminine: Sie hilft der fleißigen Lehrerin. – (She helps the diligent teacher.) 🤝 Dative feminine: fleißigen -en (article der indicates fem. dative, adjective ends -en).

• Neuter: Wir fahren mit dem roten Auto. – (We are driving with the red car.) 🚙 Dative neuter: roten -en (article dem, adjective -en).

• Plural: Er spricht mit den großen Kindern. – (He is talking with the big children.) 🗣️ Dative plural: großen -en, and note the noun Kindern got an -n as well (typical dative plural).

Genitive:

• Masculine: Das Bellen des kleinen Hundes weckt mich. – (The barking of the small dog wakes me.) 🐕🔊 Genitive masculine: kleinen -en, noun Hundes has -es.

• Feminine: Die Stimme der fleißigen Lehrerin ist laut. – (The voice of the diligent teacher is loud.) 🔊 Genitive feminine: fleißigen -en (feminine genitive article der, adjective -en).

• Neuter: Die Tür des roten Autos ist offen. – (The door of the red car is open.) 🚪 Genitive neuter: roten -en, noun Autos has -s.

• Plural: Die Fenster der großen Häuser sind neu. – (The windows of the big houses are new.) 🪟 Genitive plural: großen -en (article der, adjective -en, noun Häuser already plural).

In the examples above, we mostly used the definite article scenario. You can try swapping in an indefinite article or dropping the article to see how the sentence changes. For instance, Ein kleiner Hund spielt im Garten (A small dog is playing in the garden) – here kleiner has -er because of ein. Or Großer Hund bellt (A/BIG dog barks – implying some generic big dog) – großer with no article, strong ending -er. Practising in this way will reinforce how the endings change with the context.

Spelling Changes and Exceptions

To simplify pronunciation, the following spelling changes are made when adjectives are declined:

• When the adjective hoch (high) is declined, we drop the "c" and use "hoh" as its stem

• Adjectives ending in -el and -er, lose the -e in their stem

Adjectives ending in -a and town names ending in -er cannot be declined:

• eine prima Idee (a great idea), eine rosa Blume (a pink flower)

• der Hamburger Hafen (the port of Hamburg), die Berliner U-Bahn (Berlin's underground)

Do some exercises on the three scenarios: definite, indefinite, and no article- first. Once you are confident that you have understood the rules, practice the following words.

German Adjective Ending Exercises

Definite articles: dieser/diese/dieses (this), jener/e/es (that, those, yonder), mancher/e/es (some), welcher/e/es, derjenige/diejenige/dasjenige (those who), solcher/e/es (such), beide (both), sämtliche (all), alle, solche

• Dieses schöne Haus ist schon sehr alt (This beautiful house is very old)

• Jene sozialen Probleme sind noch ungelöst (Those social problems are yet unresolved)

• Jeder dritte Konferenzteilnehmer musste absagen (Every third conference participant had to cancel)

• Mancher Rentner bekommt zu wenig Geld (Some pensioners receive too little money)

• Welches Wörterbuch sollte ich benutzen? (Which dictionary should I use?)

• Diejenigen, die dieses Problem nicht verstehen, sollten sich dazu nicht äußern (Those who don't understand the problem, shouldn't comment)

• Solche Skandale gibt es in dieser Stadt nicht (Such scandals don't occur in this town)

• Beide Seiten sollten einander zuhören (Both parties should listen to each other)

• Wir haben sämtliche (alle) Probleme gelöst (We solved all problems)

Indefinite articles: kein, possessive pronouns (mein, dein, sein etc.), irgendein

• Sie haben keine großen Problem(They don't have any big problems)

• Mein alter Laptop ist sehr langsam (My old laptop is very slow)

• Habt ihr irgendeine Frage? (Do you have any question?)

No articles: andere (other), einige (some), etliche (a number of, quite a few), folgende (following), mehrere (several), verschiedene (different), viele (many), wenige (few), all numbers have the same endings as plural articles without the article.

• Andere nette Leute (other nice people)

• Einige unfreundliche Menschen (some unfriendly people)

• Ich muss noch etliche Dinge erledigen (I still have to get a number of things done)

• Folgende Punkte müssen wir diskutieren (We have to discuss the following points)

• Mehrere Problem bleiben unausgesprochen (Many problems are left unspoken)

• Verschiedene Kulturen (different cultures)

• Viele alte Bäume (many old trees)

• Zwei kleine Kinder spielen im Garten (Two small children play in the garden)

All-, sämtlich-, irgendwelch- precede a nominalised adjective in the singular or they precede a zero article noun in place of the definite article.

• alles Gute (instead of das Gute)

• mit sämtlichem schweren Gepäck (with all heavy luggage)

• irgendwelches unbrauchbare Zeug (some useless stuff)

Adjectival Nouns

Derived from adjectives, adjectival nouns are used to express qualities, characteristics, or attributes in a more concise and specific way. They are used with the definite article and therefore follow the same pattern of declension.

• der Arme (the poor guy)

• die Kluge (the clever woman)

Comparatives and superlatives in German follow the above rules when they are placed before a noun.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

German adjective declensions can be tricky, and learners often make predictable mistakes when first applying these rules. Here are some common mistakes along with tips on how to avoid them:

Mistake 1: Using the wrong ending after a definite article

Incorrect: Der großer Mann ist nett. 🙅

Correct: Der große Mann ist nett. ✅

Beginners sometimes put a strong ending on the adjective even though a definite article (der) is present. Remember that after der, die, das, the adjective should usually have a weak ending (-e in singular nominative/accusative, -en elsewhere. ). In der großer Mann, the adjective ending -er is wrong because der already marks masculine nominative – it should be der große Mann. How to avoid: Always check if a der-word (der, die, das, dieser, etc.) is in front – if yes, use the weak endings (mostly -en, with -e for the simple cases).

Mistake 2: Forgetting the strong ending when there’s no article

Incorrect: Ich trinke gut Wein. 

🙅Correct: Ich trinke guten Wein. ✅

When no article is present, learners sometimes leave the adjective in a base form. But with no article, the adjective must take a strong ending to indicate case/gender. In the incorrect sentence, gut Wein is missing the ending; it should be guten Wein (accusative masculine). How to avoid: If you find you have an adjective directly before a noun with no article or determiner, double-check the case and apply the strong ending pattern (e.g., ask “what would der be here?”; ich trinke den Wein -> so use guten).

Mistake 3: Using a weak ending after an indefinite article when a strong one is needed

Incorrect: Ein kluge Mann liest ein Buch. 🙅

Correct: Ein kluger Mann liest ein Buch. ✅

Here, ein kluge Mann is wrong because ein doesn’t show that it’s masculine – the adjective must show it by using -er (kluger Mann. ). The mistake is treating ein like der and using -e. How to avoid: Whenever you use ein or kein or a possessive and the noun is masculine or neuter in nominative (or neuter accusative), remember the adjective needs -r (masc) or -s (neut). A quick check: if your article word is “ein” and not “eine” and you’re not in a situation where it changes (i.e., not “einen”), then likely the adjective needs an ending in -r or -s. For example, ein alter Mann, ein kleines Kind. Only eine will allow -e on the adjective (eine alte Frau).

Mistake 4: Dropping the plural adjective ending

Incorrect: Ich sehe die kleine Hunde. 🙅

Correct: Ich sehe die kleinen Hunde. ✅

In the incorrect sentence, the person treated Hunde as plural but left the adjective as if it were singular die kleine Katze. Plural adjectives in ALL cases take -en in the presence of a definite article (and even with no article, plural nominative/accusative take -e, not zero). So die kleinen Hunde is correct. How to avoid: Always mark plural on the adjective. In plural, the only time you don’t use -en is if there’s no article (then it’s -e in nom/acc, as in kleine Hunde spielen). If you have die/keine/meine etc. in plural, the adjective should end in -en (meine kleinen Hunde). Don’t let the fact that some singulars have -e fool you into carrying that to plural – plural is a different ballgame.

Mistake 5: Ignoring the gender when the article doesn’t show it – e.g. saying ein neue Auto instead of ein neues Auto, or mein kleine Bruder instead of mein kleiner Bruder.

This is similar to Mistake 4: always check if your article left out some info (like gender), and if so, supply it in the adjective. The gender of Auto is neuter, so after ein it must be neues Auto (not neue), and Bruder is masculine, so mein kleiner Bruder.

Most of these mistakes come down to one thing: failing to have the “one case/gender ending” in the noun phrase where it belongs. Either an ending is put where it isn’t needed, or not put where it is needed. With practice, you will develop an intuition for this. A good strategy is to double-check your sentence and ensure that, between the article (if any), the adjective, and the noun, you can identify a clear marker of the case and gender. If something’s missing, it’s likely the adjective ending.

Tips, Mnemonics, and Strategies for Learning Adjective Endings

Mastering German adjective declensions might seem like memorising a telephone directory, but there are several strategies and mnemonics that can simplify the task:

1. Understand the “One Strong Ending” rule: Always remember that in any noun phrase (aside from the noun itself), one element will carry a strong ending indicating the case/gender. If the article has it (e.g. der, den, dem, des, eine, meiner, etc.), then the adjective will not (it will use weak -e or -en). If the article is missing or does not have a distinctive ending (e.g. ein, kein, mein in some forms, or nothing at all), then the adjective must carry the ending. Keeping this in mind will help you deduce the correct form when in doubt. For example, think: “Do I see a case ending on the word before the adjective? If not, I probably need to put one on the adjective.”

2. Leverage what you know about articles: As mentioned, strong adjective endings mimic the definite articles. A common mnemonic is “RESE, NESE, MRMN, SRSR” which corresponds to the der-word endings for Nom/Acc/Dat/Gen (masc, fem, neut, plur). Many find it easier to first memorise the definite article table (der, die, das, etc.) and use that as a scaffold. If you know der Tisch, die Tasse, das Buch, die Bücher patterns, then you know that großer Tisch, große Tasse, großes Buch, große Bücher should follow, because no article is present. Likewise, knowing den, dem, des helps with großen, großem, großen in those cases. Essentially, tie the adjective ending to the article you would use: “I want to say ‘big house’. House is neuter, and maybe it’s accusative with no article… hmm, accusative neuter article would be das (same as nom), which ends in -s, so I should use -es: großes Haus.” This mental comparison can eventually become automatic.

3. Use colour-coding or visual tables: Some learners find it very helpful to colour-code their tables or charts. For instance, in our earlier discussion, we noted using one colour for endings that match the definite articles and another for those that don’t. In a beginner’s guide, the author used red for the adjective endings that change in the indefinite context (to mark masculine -er, neuter -es) and green where they stayed the same, as in definite patterns. Creating a visual separation like this can reinforce the concept that “most endings are -en, only a few are different, and those different ones correspond to der/das”. Consider making your own chart and highlighting the -er, -es spots, etc.

4. Learn in stages (definite > indefinite > none): A suggested learning progression is: start with the definite article scenario (weak endings), because it has the fewest variations (mostly just remembering -e vs -en). Then move to indefinite articles, noting the small differences (adding -er, -es in some cases). Finally, tackle no article (strong), which might seem like the largest table but if you know your articles, it’s quite systematic. By building up this way, you’re reusing patterns rather than treating all 16 forms as separate. You’ll notice, for example, that aside from nominative/accusative singular, everything ended up -en in both definite and indefinite tables – that’s good news, a lot of repetition!

5. Spot the similarities to reduce memorisation: Not all 16 slots are unique. Notice patterns like: feminine and plural are often identical in adjective declension (e.g. große Frau, große Frauen in nom/acc; großen in genitive plural is like feminine genitive großen? Actually feminine genitive was großen Frau? Wait, check: feminine genitive is großen? Our table shows feminine genitive großer Frau with -er. Correction: der großen Frau for def., einer großen Frau indef., großer Frau no article – all have -en on adjective in def/indef, -er in strong. My statement “feminine and plural are often identical” is true for weak endings (def. article: fem nom -e, pl nom -en are not identical; fem dative -en, plural dative -en are identical in def scenario; in strong, fem nom -e, pl nom -e are identical; fem dat -r, pl dat -n not identical; hmm, maybe not a great rule to state broadly). Let’s use a different angle: Many forms overlap, e.g. masculine acc = masculine dat = neuter dat = plural dat = plural acc (all -en in weak). Actually a better approach: Realise that you rarely have to newly learn an ending; most endings appear multiple times. For instance, if you know masculine accusative is -en, you’ve also got plural accusative -en (in weak/mixed). If you know neuter nominative is -es (in mixed/strong), that’s also neuter accusative. Recognising these overlaps can cut down the perception of “so many endings”. Often grammars group them into only five distinct adjective endings in total (-e, -er, -es, -en, -em), which is true – you’re just plugging them into slots.

6. Use mnemonic phrases or rhymes: In addition to RESE NESE MRMN SRSR for the strong pattern, some like to use a nonsense phrase to remember weak endings. For example, one could say “E-E-E-N (singular), E-E-E-N (singular accusative same pattern for fem/neut), and then all the rest E-N”. That’s not as elegant, but find a shorthand that works for you. Another trick: since the default is -en, just memorise the small set of exceptions where it isn’t -en. Those are: (1) Nom. sing.: -r, -e, -s for (m, f, n) if no stronger article present; (2) Acc. sing.: additional -e for feminine (def) or -s for neuter (if needed); (3) Nom./Acc. plural strong: -e. Everything else is -en. This perspective means you focus on a handful of forms, not 16.

7. Practice with sentences and quizzes: There’s no substitute for practice. Write out example sentences or take quizzes where you have to fill in the correct adjective ending. The more you use them in context, the more natural it will feel. For instance, take one sentence and change it for all gender/case combinations (like we did in the example section). Many textbooks and online resources have drills specifically for adjective endings. Repeat them periodically.

8. Mnemonic for mixed endings: Some remember the mixed declension by remembering it’s just like definite declension, except in the slots where the article doesn’t show gender: “masc/neut nom. and neut acc. get the der/das endings on the adjective.” You might create a mini-chant: “ein guter Vater, eine gute Mutter, ein gutes Kind – keine guten Kinder” to have a reference in your head.

9. Be mindful of special adjective forms: A few adjectives don’t follow the typical pattern in spelling. For instance, hoch (high) becomes hoh- in its declined forms (e.g. ein hohes Haus – you drop the c). Adjectives ending in -el or -er often drop that e in the ending when another ending is added: teuer -> teures (not teueres), dunkel -> dunklen in dative (not dunkelen). Also, a few colour words like rosa, lila, orange, beige are invariable and don’t take endings (eine rosa Blume, not rosae or something). These are small exceptions, but knowing them can prevent confusion when your perfectly memorised table suddenly doesn’t seem to apply to a word like rosa. Fortunately, there are not many such exceptions.

By consistently applying these strategies, you’ll find that what initially seems like an arbitrary set of endings actually follows a logical system. Over time, you’ll start to “feel” when something sounds off. For example, der kleiner Hund will ring an alarm bell in your head, because you know der “should be followed by something ending in -e/-en”. This intuition grows with practice and exposure.

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