German Adjective Endings

German Adjective Declination Table

This is the table that will help you the most to learn the adjective endings.

German adjective declension table showing endings for definite articles, indefinite articles, and no article across Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, Genitiv for all genders and plural

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First, you need to know in which case the adjective should be. Secondly, you need to know the gender of the noun that the adjective describes. Thirdly, you must determine whether you have a definite, indefinite, or no article. If you know these 3 things you can figure out the answer using the table.

What case? — Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, or Genitiv?

What gender? — Maskulin, Feminin, Neutral, or Plural?

Which article type? — Definite (der/die/das), indefinite (ein/kein/mein), or no article?

Beispiel

Der Praktikant schreibt einen langweiligen Bericht.

The intern writes a boring report.

Akkusativ → einen (der) Bericht = maskulin, einen = indefinite article → -en

Good news, you don't have to learn the table by heart. You can derive the adjective endings for the most part from the endings of the definite articles.

Beispiel

das Unternehmen ➡️ ein kleines Unternehmen (das Unternehmen = the company)

für den Anwalt ➡️ für einen schlauen Anwalt (der Anwalt = the lawyer, schlau = smart)

Important note: Adjectives followed by these words are declined the same way as after the definite article: derselbe, dieser, jener, mancher, solcher, welcher, alle.

More about German Prepositions here.

Predicative & Adverbial Adjectives

As mentioned earlier, the adjective declination refers to attributive adjectives. Predicative and adverbial adjectives do not change their original form.

Predicative — no declination

Der Anwalt ist schlau.

Adverbial — no declination

Er rechnet gut.

Declination of 2 German Adjectives in a Row

If you have two consecutive adjectives you just follow the same pattern. Both adjectives are declined.

Beispiel

Der Geschäftsmann kauft ein solides deutsches Unternehmen.

The businessman buys a solid German company.

Practice makes perfect. Below is a great video that will also help you to learn the adjective endings.

Summary of Adjective Endings in German

Learn the table, but realize that you can derive the table from the definite article endings.
Determine all 3 components: gender, case, and article type.
Make sure to only decline attributive adjectives.
Consecutive adjectives are declined in the same way as if there is only one adjective.