B1 · Adjectives
Adjective endings
the endings in front of a noun
One principle instead of three tables: the ending appears where the article did not.
An adjective in front of a noun takes an ending, and courses usually present three tables for it — after a definite article, after an indefinite one, and after nothing. Learning three tables of sixteen cells is a great deal of work for one idea, and the idea is this: the case and gender have to be marked once in the noun phrase, and the adjective supplies the mark only when nothing else has.
So after der, die, das — which already carry the mark clearly — the adjective adds almost nothing: -e in the five basic cells and -en everywhere else. After ein in the three cells where ein itself has no ending, the adjective steps in and carries the full mark: ein guter Mann, ein gutes Buch. With no article at all, the adjective carries the whole thing and takes the endings the definite article would have had.
That is why der gute Mann has -e and ein guter Mann has -er: the -er is exactly what ein failed to say. Seen this way the three tables are one rule with three starting points, and the rule is easier to apply under time pressure than any table is to recall.
Die Form
| after der/die/das | der gute Mann, die gute Frau, das gute Buch |
| after ein/eine | ein guter Mann, eine gute Frau, ein gutes Buch |
| no article | guter Wein, gute Milch, gutes Bier |
| all plurals with an article | die guten Bücher, meine guten Bücher |
| everything else | -en |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
After der, die, das the adjective takes -e in the nominative singular and the neuter and feminine accusative, and -en everywhere else.
Ich kenne den guten Arzt.I know the good doctor.
Where ein has no ending — masculine nominative, neuter nominative and accusative — the adjective takes -er or -es instead.
Das ist ein gutes Buch.That is a good book.
With no article the adjective takes the endings the definite article would have had.
Ich trinke gern kaltes Wasser.I like drinking cold water.
Every plural with an article in front of it takes -en, in all four cases.
mit den neuen Kollegenwith the new colleagues
Genauer hingesehen
Why one mark and not two
German noun phrases obey a principle of economy that looks like inconsistency from outside: the gender and case are marked once, clearly, and then nothing repeats it. Der is unambiguous, so the adjective relaxes into -e. Ein is ambiguous, so the adjective takes over. Nothing at all in front, and the adjective does the entire job.
Grammars call these the weak, mixed and strong declensions, which names them without explaining them. Naming the principle instead — one mark per phrase — replaces three memorised tables with a question you can ask in the half second before you speak: has anything already said what this is?
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
-
the word in front is kein, mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser or euer
it behaves exactly like ein, so the adjective takes the ein pattern.
mein guter Freund, kein gutes Zeichenmy good friend, not a good sign
They are built on ein and share its gaps — which is why they are called ein-words.
-
the adjective ends in -el or -er
it loses the -e- before an ending: dunkel gives dunkle, teuer gives teure.
ein teures Auto, ein dunkler Rauman expensive car, a dark room
Three unstressed syllables in a row are avoided in German, so the middle one goes.
Woran man es erkennt
- -e
- -en
- -er
- -es
- ein
- der
- kein
- mein
Beispielsätze
Das ist ein guter Vorschlag.That is a good suggestion.
Wir suchen eine größere Wohnung.We are looking for a bigger flat.
Er trinkt schwarzen Kaffee.He drinks black coffee.
Die neuen Nachbarn sind nett.The new neighbours are nice.
Mit dem alten Auto fahre ich nicht.I am not driving that old car.
Noch 8 Beispielsätze
Ich hätte gern ein kaltes Bier.I would like a cold beer.
Sie hat lange braune Haare.She has long brown hair.
In der kleinen Küche ist es eng.It is cramped in the small kitchen.
Guten Morgen!Good morning!
Wir haben keine großen Zimmer mehr frei.We have no large rooms left.
Er kommt aus einer kleinen Stadt.He comes from a small town.
Frisches Brot riecht gut.Fresh bread smells good.
Das war ein langer Tag.That was a long day.
Besonderheiten (2)
-
Two thirds of the cells are -en
Counting the whole system, the ending is <z>-en</z> far more often than anything else: every plural after an article, the whole dative, the whole genitive, and the masculine accusative. A learner who says <z>-en</z> whenever they are unsure will be right most of the time — which is not a rule to be proud of, but it is a good deal better than freezing.
mit den neuen Kollegen, wegen des schlechten Wetterswith the new colleagues, because of the bad weather
-
The fixed greetings are accusative
<z>Guten Morgen</z>, <z>guten Tag</z>, <z>guten Abend</z>, <z>gute Nacht</z>, <z>gute Reise</z>, <z>guten Appetit</z> are the remains of a full sentence — <z>ich wünsche Ihnen einen guten Tag</z> — with everything but the object left out. That is why they are accusative, and why <z>guten</z> and not <z>guter</z>.
Guten Tag! Gute Reise!Good day! Have a good journey!
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The neuter -es gets used for the masculine because ein looks the same in both. That is precisely the point of the ending: ein cannot tell you the gender, so the adjective has to, and it says -er for a masculine and -es for a neuter. If the article is uninformative, the ending is carrying the whole load — which makes it the one place you cannot guess.
The adjective says what the article did not.
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