📚 What are Adjectives?
Adjectives are words that provide more information about a noun. They describe qualities, characteristics, or states of being.
✅ Adjectives After Nouns (No Change)
If the adjective comes after the noun it describes, it doesn't change - just like in English!
⚠️ Adjectives Before Nouns (Take Endings)
If the adjective is placed before the noun, you must add an ending. The ending depends on three factors:
Three Factors to Consider:
- Gender of the noun (masculine, feminine, neuter)
- Case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive)
- Article type (definite, indefinite, or no article)
🔎 The Three Determiner Types
German adjective endings fall into three groups, depending on what comes in front of the adjective:
| Definite article | der, die, das, die; dieser, jener, welcher, jeder | Weak endings |
|---|---|---|
| Indefinite article | ein, eine, kein, keine; possessives (mein, dein, sein ...) | Mixed endings |
| No article | no determiner | Strong endings |
📘 Adjective Endings After the Definite Article
These are the weak endings. The definite article already marks gender, case, and number, so the adjective endings are mostly -e or -en.
| Nominative | -e der alte Mann | -e die junge Frau | -e das kleine Kind | -en die alten Leute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accusative | -en den alten Mann | -e die junge Frau | -e das kleine Kind | -en die alten Leute |
| Dative | -en dem alten Mann | -en der jungen Frau | -en dem kleinen Kind | -en den alten Leuten |
| Genitive | -en des alten Mannes | -en der jungen Frau | -en des kleinen Kindes | -en der alten Leute |
📗 Adjective Endings After the Indefinite Article
These are the mixed endings. They are used after ein, kein, and possessive determiners. They look like strong endings in the nominative singular and accusative feminine/neuter, and like weak endings everywhere else.
| Nominative | -er ein alter Mann | -e eine junge Frau | -es ein kleines Kind | -en keine alten Leute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accusative | -en einen alten Mann | -e eine junge Frau | -es ein kleines Kind | -en keine alten Leute |
| Dative | -en einem alten Mann | -en einer jungen Frau | -en einem kleinen Kind | -en keinen alten Leuten |
| Genitive | -en eines alten Mannes | -en einer jungen Frau | -en eines kleinen Kindes | -en keiner alten Leute |
📙 Adjective Endings With No Article
When there is no determiner, the adjective uses strong endings. It must carry all the grammatical information itself.
| Nominative | -er starker Kaffee | -e kalte Milch | -es frisches Brot | -e rote Äpfel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accusative | -en starken Kaffee | -e kalte Milch | -es frisches Brot | -e rote Äpfel |
| Dative | -em starkem Kaffee | -er kalter Milch | -em frischem Brot | -en roten Äpfeln |
| Genitive | -en starken Kaffees | -er kalter Milch | -en frischen Brotes | -er roter Äpfel |
⚠️ Special Cases to Watch Out For
- Adjectives ending in -el, -er, -en
Many adjectives drop the final -e- before the adjective ending:
- viel / wenig
With singular, uncountable nouns, viel and wenig usually have no ending. With plural countable nouns, they take -e:
- etwas / nichts / jemand + adjective
After indefinite pronouns like etwas, nichts, and jemand, the adjective takes -es:
- alle / beide
alle and beide are followed by the weak plural ending -en:
📈 Comparison Forms
Adjectives also change when you compare things. The comparative adds -er (with umlaut on a/o/u), and the superlative uses am … -sten in the predicate or -ste before a noun.
| groß | größer | am größten / der größte | big → bigger → biggest |
|---|---|---|---|
| schön | schöner | am schönsten / die schönste | beautiful → more beautiful → most beautiful |
| teuer | teurer | am teuersten / das teuerste | expensive → more expensive → most expensive |
| gut | besser | am besten / der beste | good → better → best |
| viel | mehr | am meisten / die meisten | much/many → more → most |
📋 Summary Cheat-Sheet
Use these mnemonics to remember the three declension patterns:
| Definite article (weak) | -e / -e / -e / -en | -en / -e / -e / -en | -en / -en / -en / -en | -en / -en / -en / -en |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite article (mixed) | -er / -e / -es / -en | -en / -e / -es / -en | -en / -en / -en / -en | -en / -en / -en / -en |
| No article (strong) | -er / -e / -es / -e | -en / -e / -es / -e | -em / -er / -em / -en | -en / -er / -en / -er |
- After der/die/das, use -e in nominative and accusative singular, otherwise -en.
- After ein/kein/mein, use -er/-e/-es in nominative and accusative (except masculine accusative = -en), otherwise -en.
- With no article, the adjective endings match the definite article almost exactly (strong endings).
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← From Previous (e24)
Building on: E24 - You reached the advanced adjective-endings unit. Review any previous case and article work before tackling declension tables.
→ Coming Next (e26)
Prepare for: E26 - The next chapter continues with advanced German grammar topics.