Adjective Declension

In the previous lesson, we used predicative adjectives, where the adjective comes after the verb. For example:

Predicative adjectives rely on a linking verb, like ist in the sentence above.

However, attributive adjectives come before the noun and don’t need a linking verb, allowing for more flexibility in sentence structure. For example:

Notice how the adjective grün is declined to grüne. This is because, when placed before the noun, both the article & the adjective become responsible for indicating it‘s case.

In German, identifying the case of a noun is important because it tells us the role it plays in a sentence, such as a subject or object. We can determine the noun’s case through declension.

Two types of words undergo declension: determiners (like articles) and attributive adjectives.

Check out these sentences:

In both, the case of the noun der Mann is clear through the declension of the article and/or adjective (nominative).

Strong, Weak and Mixed Declension

Now that we know that attributive adjectives must decline, let's learn how to do this.

There are three ways to decline adjectives: strong, mixed and weak.

Notice that weak declension only uses -e and -en endings, while strong declension uses -er, -e, and -es endings to indicate noun gender as well as case, just like definite articles do.

To determine which type of declension to use, we can follow these rules:

• no article + adjective + noun → strong declension
• indefinite article ('ein', 'mein') + adjective + noun → mixed declension
• definite article + adjective + noun → weak declension

Now, take a look at the sentences below and try to correctly decline the adjectives, using the rules above.

Key things to consider when declining adjectives:

• Noun gender (die Schildkröte, der Apfel)
• Noun case (nominative or accusative)
• Whether to use strong, mixed or weak declension

Great job! 🎉 You’ve started using adjective declensions in your sentences! When you’re ready, move on to the next lesson: German Negation.