Almost all parts of speech in the German language change their form depending on number, gender, and case - that is, they decline. Adjectives are no exception. In this article, we’ll explain how adjectives are declined.
First, it’s important to note that adjectives are declined only when they stand directly before a noun.
Let’s look at some examples:
Ein interessantes Buch - an interesting book
BUT!!! Das Buch ist interessant - The book is interesting
In German, there are three types of adjective declension:
weak, strong, and mixed. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
Adjectives follow the weak declension pattern:
after the definite article der, die, das, die (plural);
after the following pronouns:
dieser, dieses, diese, diese (plural) - this;
jener, jenes, jene, jene (plural) - that;
jeder, jedes, jede - each, every;
alle (plural) - all;
mancher, manches, manche, manche (plural) - some;
solcher, solches, solche, solche (plural) - such;
welcher, welches, welche, welche (plural) - which;
derjenige, dasjenige, diejenige, diejenigen (plural) - the one, those;
derselbe, dasselbe, dieselbe, dieselben (plural) - the same;
beide - both; sämtliche - all.
In the weak declension pattern, the adjective typically takes the ending -en in all case forms in both singular and plural, except for the nominative case of all three genders in singular and the accusative case in neuter and feminine singular:
Adjectives follow the strong declension pattern if:
they are used without a preceding article or pronoun;
they follow words such as: andere, einige, etliche, folgende, mehrere, verschiedene, viele, wenige;
they follow cardinal numbers.
rotes Kleid - red dress
viele schöne Blumen - many beautiful flowers
Adjective endings in the strong declension pattern match the endings of the definite article in singular and plural, except for the genitive case of masculine and neuter singular:
Adjectives follow the mixed declension pattern if they are preceded by:
an indefinite article ein, eine, ein (only in singular!);
a negative pronoun kein, keine, kein, keine (plural);
a possessive pronoun mein, dein, etc.
Here is the declension paradigm for adjectives in the mixed pattern:
Since the indefinite article is used only in the singular, in the plural adjectives follow the strong declension pattern.
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Start now
days
hours
min
sec
Price €146.67
Language Deutsch, B1.2
Start July 3, 2025
Course Leichter Kurs B1.2
Group #99
