German Adjectives: A Simple Guide to Mastery

Are you learning German and feeling confused by adjective endings? You aren’t alone! In German, adjectives change depending on how they are used in a sentence. This guide breaks down the rules into simple steps to help you speak and write more naturally.

1. What are Adjectives?

Adjectives describe the qualities of people, things, or actions. In German, there are three main ways to use them:

1. A. The Predicative Adjective

This adjective comes after verbs like sein (to be), werden (to become), or bleiben (to stay).

• The Best Part: The ending never changes.
• Example: Sie ist müde (She is tired).

1. B. The Adverbial Adjective

This describes a verb (how an action is done).

• The Best Part: The ending never changes.
• Example: Er spricht leise (He speaks quietly).

1. C. The Attributive Adjective

This is where it gets tricky! This adjective stands between an article and a noun.

• Example: der alte Mann (the old man).
• Note: These adjectives must change their endings based on gender, number, and case.

2. Understanding Adjective Endings (Declension)

The ending of an adjective depends on what kind of “article” (like the, a, or this) comes before it.

The “Weak” Declension (After definite articles)

Use this when there is a clear “case signal” (like der, die, das, dieser, jeder). Because the article already shows the case, the adjective stays “weak” with only -e or -en endings.

(Reference Table )

The “Strong” Declension (No article)

If there is no article before the adjective, the adjective itself must show the case.

• Example: alter Mann (old man – Nominative).
• Exception: In the Genitive masculine and neuter, the adjective ends in -en because the noun already has the signal.

The “Mixed” Declension (After ein, kein, mein)

This is used after the indefinite article (ein) or possessives (mein, dein, etc.).

• If the article has no ending (like ein in masculine nominative), the adjective uses a strong ending.
• If the article has an ending (like einen), the adjective uses a weak ending.

3. Special Rules to Remember

• Adjectives ending in -el or -er: When you add an ending, the “e” often disappears.
  • dunkel becomes der dunkle Stoff.
  • teuer becomes die teure Reise.
• Multiple Adjectives: If you use two or more adjectives together, they all get the same ending.
  • ein langer, staubiger Weg.
• Participles: Words like gelesene (read) or schreibende (writing) follow the exact same rules as adjectives.

[!TIP] Adjectives as Nouns Sometimes an adjective can become a noun (e.g., “The Old Man” becoming “The Old One”). In German, these are capitalized but still use the adjective endings!.