German grammar by topic › German adjective endings, explained

German adjective endings, explained

An adjective after the noun has no ending: Das Haus ist alt. An adjective before the noun takes an ending that depends on the article in front of it, the gender and the case: das alte Haus, ein altes Haus, altes Brot.

The rule behind the tables is simple: the gender and case must show somewhere. If the article already shows them, the adjective takes a short -e or -en; if not, the adjective shows them itself.

The essentials

After der, die, das the ending is -e or -en: der neue Wagen, die neue Wohnung, mit dem neuen Wagen.
After ein, kein and mein the adjective shows what the article doesn't: ein neuer Wagen, ein neues Auto.
With no article the adjective takes the article's ending: guter Kaffee, frische Milch, kaltes Wasser.
In the dative and genitive, and in the plural after an article, the ending is nearly always -en: mit meinen alten Freunden.
Comparatives and superlatives take the same endings: ein größeres Zimmer, der schnellste Weg.

Every lesson on this topic

Each lesson has a full explanation, examples you can listen to, and exercises with answers.

A1 (the A1 course)

Adjectives after sein: Das Haus ist groß: After sein an adjective has no ending: Das Haus ist groß, die Kinder sind müde

A2 (the A2 course)

Adjective endings after der, die, das: After the definite article an adjective ends in -e or -en
Adjective endings after ein, kein, mein: When the article has no ending, the adjective shows it: ein neuer Tisch, ein neues Bett
Adjectives with no article: frischer Kaffee, kaltes Wasser: Without an article, the adjective carries the article's ending itself
Comparatives and superlatives before a noun: Say ein größeres Auto and die beste Idee: the comparative and superlative take normal adjective endings.

B1 (the B1 course)

Adjectives as nouns: der Deutsche, ein Bekannter, etwas Neues: Turn adjectives into nouns for people and ideas, with the normal adjective endings.

B2 (the B2 course)

Participles as adjectives: der lachende Mann, das gekochte Ei: Use Partizip I (lachend) for what is happening and Partizip II (gekocht) for what has been done, with normal adjective endings.
Extended attributes: die seit Jahren steigenden Preise: Read and build the long noun phrases of written German, where a whole relative clause sits between the article and the noun.

In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised with questions that explain the rule when you slip, and brought back for review on later days.

Learn it in the app, free Find your level