Application, translations, and examples of adjective declension in German | Adjective declension in German is a topic that often causes great confusion among those learning the language.
This is because there are so many types of adjectives, but above all because the declensions are not so regular: sometimes the ending is present, sometimes it appears, sometimes it changes, and sometimes it stays the same.
Furthermore, each adjective can take on different functions depending on its placement: it's easy to get confused. But luckily today you've found the Sprachcaffe article in which we'll clarify all your doubts and explain the declension of the German adjective, complete with exercises.
German Adjective
German adjective declension (Adjektivdeklination) is the reason the ending on a German adjective keeps changing: alt can appear as alter, alte, alten, altem, or altes. The good news is that it follows one clear principle across three patterns. This guide from SPRACHCAFFE explains when adjectives take endings at all, the weak, mixed, and strong tables, the special cases, and gives you an exercise with answers.
When does an adjective take an ending?
Only attributive adjectives, those standing before a noun, are declined. Predicative adjectives, which follow verbs like sein, werden, bleiben, or scheinen, keep their base form:
Ludwig ist stark. → Ludwig is strong. (predicative, no ending)
Er hat zwei starke Arme. → He has two strong arms. (attributive, declined)
Mein Haus ist schön. (predicative) vs Es ist mein schönes Zuhause. (attributive)
Attributive adjectives agree with their noun in gender, number, and case. Which set of endings they take depends on the article in front of them.
The guiding principle: the gender/case signal must appear once in the phrase, either on the article or on the adjective. When the article already shows it, the adjective stays simple; when the article is missing or ambiguous, the adjective carries the signal.
Used after der, die, das and after dieser, jener, jeder, mancher, solcher, aller, beide, welcher. The article carries the signal, so the adjective only ever ends in -e or -en.
Singular
Case
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Nom.
der alte Mann
die junge Frau
das kleine Kind
Acc.
den alten Mann
die junge Frau
das kleine Kind
Dat.
dem alten Mann
der jungen Frau
dem kleinen Kind
Gen.
des alten Mannes
der jungen Frau
des kleinen Kindes
Plural (all genders): die alten Männer / den alten Männern / der alten Männer (Nom. and Acc. = die alten).
Example: Der alte Reisepass muss erneuert werden. (The old passport needs renewing.)
Mixed declension: after ein, kein, and possessives
Used after the indefinite article ein/eine, after kein, and after possessives (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, ihr). The endings are mostly weak (-en), but where the article does not show gender, the masculine nominative and the neuter nominative/accusative, the adjective takes the strong ending (-er, -es).
Singular
Case
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Nom.
ein alter Mann
eine junge Frau
ein kleines Kind
Acc.
einen alten Mann
eine junge Frau
ein kleines Kind
Dat.
einem alten Mann
einer jungen Frau
einem kleinen Kind
Gen.
eines alten Mannes
einer jungen Frau
eines kleinen Kindes
Plural (with a possessive, since ein has no plural): meine alten Männer / meinen alten Männern / meiner alten Männer.
Example: Ein süßer kleiner Hund kam auf mich zu. (A cute little dog came up to me.)
Strong declension: no article
Used when no article precedes the adjective (with uncountable nouns, plurals without an article, or after numbers). With nothing else to carry it, the adjective takes the full definite-article-style endings. The only twist is the masculine and neuter genitive singular, which end in -en (because the noun already adds -s).
Singular
Case
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Nom.
alter Wein
junge Frau
kleines Kind
Acc.
alten Wein
junge Frau
kleines Kind
Dat.
altem Wein
junger Frau
kleinem Kind
Gen.
alten Weines
junger Frau
kleinen Kindes
Plural (all genders): alte Männer / alten Männern / alter Männer.
Example: Junge Studenten haben an eure Tür geklopft. (Young students knocked on your door.) / Es werden starke Nordwestwinde erwartet. (Strong north-westerly winds are expected.)
[Bridge: Teaserbox German Language Courses, link to programme page]
Special cases and irregularities
hoch drops the c when declined: der hohe Baum (the tall tree).
Adjectives ending in -el or -er often drop the e: dunkel → ein dunkler Raum; teuer → ein teures Hotel.
Colours and adjectives from place names ending in -a are not declined: der lila Hut (the purple hat); ein rosa Kleid.
Adjectives derived from city names ending in -er are not declined and keep a capital: die Frankfurter Würstchen; der Berliner Bahnhof.
Exercise
Decline "hoch" correctly: 1. Der Sauerstoffgehalt in der Luft ist . (predicative) 2. Die Hügel sind , sie sehen aus wie Berge. (predicative) 3. Mary hat von ___ Gebäuden gehört. (before a plural noun, no article)
Put the adjective in brackets into the right form: 4. Ich habe den Bruder deiner ___ (nett) Nachbarin gesehen. 5. Sag deinen ___ (eitel) Freunden, dass ich kein Interesse habe. 6. Kümmere dich um meine ___ (kostbar) Sammlung. 7. Hier wurden schon einige ___ (grau) Delfine gesichtet. 8. Ich habe die Schwester meines ___ (deutsch) Freundes kennengelernt.
Answer key: 1. hoch 2. hoch 3. hohen 4. netten 5. eitlen 6. kostbare 7. graue 8. deutschen
