Adjective endings look like the most intimidating table in German grammar. In practice there are only three patterns, and which one applies depends entirely on what comes before the adjective. Once that is clear the table stops being something to memorise and becomes something to derive.
Adjektivendungen contains 1,088 questions across A2, B1 and B2, generated from the declension paradigm itself rather than written by hand — so every ending in the app is correct by construction. Four modes let you drill one pattern at a time or all three mixed.
After a definite article the adjective carries little information and the endings are weak, mostly -e and -en. After ein or kein the article is ambiguous in some cases, so the adjective picks up the work — these are the mixed endings. With no article at all the adjective carries everything, and the endings are strong, closely resembling the definite article itself.
The useful shortcut: everything in the dative is -en, and everything plural is -en, except with no article. Learning the four nominative cells properly and applying that rule covers most of the table.
An adjective standing in front of a noun takes an ending. Which one depends on three things at once — the case, the gender of the noun, and what comes before the adjective. That third factor is what gives German its three declension patterns, and it is the part learners usually miss.
The article has already marked the case, so the adjective does almost nothing. This entire pattern uses only two endings.
| m | f | n | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | -e | -e | -e | -en |
| Akkusativ | -en | -e | -e | -en |
| Dativ | -en | -en | -en | -en |
| Genitiv | -en | -en | -en | -en |
der gute Mann · den guten Mann · mit dem guten Mann
The shortcut: everything below the nominative row, and the whole plural column, is -en. Learn the top row and let -en cover the rest.
This pattern also applies after dieser, jeder, welcher and alle, because those carry the same case marking as the definite article.
ein has no ending in three places: masculine nominative, and neuter nominative and accusative. In exactly those three places the adjective has to carry the case marking instead. Everywhere else this pattern is identical to the weak one.
| m | f | n | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | -er | -e | -es | -en |
| Akkusativ | -en | -e | -es | -en |
| Dativ | -en | -en | -en | -en |
| Genitiv | -en | -en | -en | -en |
ein guter Mann · ein gutes Buch · einen guten Mann
The same applies after kein and every possessive: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer.
With nothing in front of it, the adjective carries the full case marking alone. Its endings look almost exactly like the definite article, which is a useful way to remember them.
| m | f | n | pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | -er | -e | -es | -e |
| Akkusativ | -en | -e | -es | -e |
| Dativ | -em | -er | -em | -en |
| Genitiv | -en | -er | -en | -er |
guter Kaffee · kaltes Wasser · mit kaltem Wasser
This pattern appears where German naturally drops the article: with mass nouns (Ich trinke gern warmen Kaffee) and with plurals (alte Freunde, mit alten Freunden). You will rarely need it for a singular countable noun, because those almost always take an article.
Look at the three tables together and one thing stands out: -en fills most of the space. Every dative and genitive form in the weak and mixed patterns is -en. Every plural in those two patterns is -en.
So a practical order of operations:
1. Is it dative or genitive, or plural, after der or ein? → -en. Done.
2. Is it nominative or accusative? → then you need the table, and only the top two rows.
3. Is there no article? → the adjective takes the article's own ending.
Three small groups adjust before an ending is added:
| adjective | with an ending | note |
|---|---|---|
| teuer | die teure Jacke | -er loses its e |
| dunkel | das dunkle Zimmer | -el loses its e |
| hoch | das hohe Haus | c drops out |
| müde | der müde Mann | already ends in -e, so nothing is added |
Note that sauber keeps its e — das saubere Zimmer. Only teuer reliably drops it.
| level | focus |
|---|---|
| A2 | nominative and accusative, after der and after ein |
| B1 | the dative, and the no-article pattern with mass nouns and plurals |
| B2 | the genitive across all three patterns |