In German, adjectives change their endings depending on three things: the gender of the noun, the case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive), and what comes before the adjective (a definite article, an indefinite article, or nothing at all).
This is what we call adjective declension, and it's one of the topics that trips up almost every German learner. The good news: there is a clear system behind it, and once you see the pattern, it becomes much more manageable.
In the sentence above, kleine and großen are both adjectives - but they have different endings because they are in different cases and follow different articles.
The Core Idea
Here's the single most important principle of German adjective declension:
The Golden Rule
Someone has to show the gender and case of the noun. If the article already does it, the adjective can relax. If the article doesn't do it (or there is no article), the adjective has to step up.
This one idea explains all three declension types:
- Weak declension - after definite articles (der, die, das) - the article does all the work, so the adjective just adds -e or -en.
- Strong declension - with no article at all - the adjective must carry the full signal, so it takes endings that look like the definite article itself.
- Mixed declension - after indefinite articles (ein, kein, mein...) - the article sometimes shows the gender and sometimes doesn't, so the adjective fills in the gaps.
1. Weak Declension
Weak declension is the easiest. It's used after definite articles (der, die, das) and similar words like dieser, jeder, welcher, and alle.
Since the article already tells us the gender and case, the adjective only needs one of two endings: -e or -en.
Weak Declension Table
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -e | -e | -e | -en |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -e | -en |
| Dative | -en | -en | -en | -en |
| Genitive | -en | -en | -en | -en |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns →
It's almost all -en. The only spots with -e are the nominative singular (all genders) and the accusative singular for feminine and neuter — everything else is -en.
Examples
2. Strong Declension
Strong declension is used when there is no article at all before the adjective. Since nothing else is signalling the gender and case, the adjective has to do it alone.
The endings look very similar to the definite articles themselves (der, die, das, den, dem, des).
Strong Declension Table
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -e |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -e |
| Dative | -em | -er | -em | -en |
| Genitive | -en | -er | -en | -er |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns →
Notice how the endings mirror the definite articles: der = -er, die = -e, das = -es, dem = -em, etc. The only exceptions are masculine and neuter genitive, where the ending is -en instead of -es (because the noun itself already takes an -s ending in the genitive).
When Does This Actually Happen?
You'll see strong declension most often with:
Examples
3. Mixed Declension
Mixed declension is the most common in everyday German, because ein-words (ein, kein, mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer) are used constantly.
It's called "mixed" because it combines weak and strong endings: the word ein has no ending in three spots: masculine nominative (ein Mann), neuter nominative (ein Haus), and neuter accusative (ein Haus). In these three cases, the adjective must use a strong ending to compensate. Everywhere else, the article shows the gender, so the adjective uses a weak ending.
Mixed Declension Table
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -en |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -en |
| Dative | -en | -en | -en | -en |
| Genitive | -en | -en | -en | -en |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns →
The three underlined spots are the only differences from the weak table — everywhere else, the endings are identical.
Examples
How to Choose
When you encounter an adjective before a noun, ask yourself these three questions:
A Helpful Shortcut
If remembering three tables feels like too much, here's a shortcut that works in most situations:
The One-Signal Rule
The gender/case signal must appear exactly once - either on the article or on the adjective, but not both and not neither.
- der alte Mann - the article carries the signal (der), so the adjective is minimal (-e)
- alter Mann - no article, so the adjective carries the signal (-er, like der)
- ein alter Mann - the article has no ending, so the adjective carries the signal (-er)
- einem alten Mann - the article carries the signal (-em), so the adjective is minimal (-en)
This principle covers about 90% of cases. The main exception is the genitive masculine/neuter in strong declension, where -en is used instead of -es.
Practice Exercises
Now let's put this into practice. Fill in the correct adjective ending for each sentence.
After der, die, das — endings are -e or -en.
Want More Practice?
We have dedicated exercise pages for each declension type with many more sentences to practise:
- Weak Adjective Declension Exercises - after definite articles
- Strong Adjective Declension Exercises - without articles
- Mixed Adjective Declension Exercises - after ein-words