German : Attributive Adjectives (Adjectives BEFORE noun)

German : Attributive Adjectives (Adjectives BEFORE noun)

excerpted from German Grammar by Norman Paxton, ch.6, page 28-29

1. As with nouns, adjectives may have a WEAK, MIXED or STRONG declension, but fortunately these are all quite regular and there are no exceptions.

2. There are therefore only THREE sets of endings to learn.

3. The WEAK declension is used after " der words"; the MIXED declension after "mein words" and the STRONG declension where there is NO " der" or " mein" word BEFORE the adjective.

for example

WEAK declension (der words)
Nominative : der neue Lehrer (the new teacher)
Accusative : den neuen Lehrer
Genitive : des neuen Lehrers
Dative : dem neuen Lehrer

MIXED declension (mein words, singular)
Nominative : mein alter Freund (my old friend)
Accusative : mein alten Freund
Genitive : meines alten Freund
Dative : meinem alten Freund

STRONG declension (singular)
Nominative : schöner Wein (beautiful wine)
Accusative : schönen Wein (exception)
Genitive : schönen Weins
Dative: schönem Wein


4. It is worth noting that the STRONG adjective endings are identical with the endings of "diser ", " jeder" etc, with the exception of the masculine and neuter genitive singular, when they have -en instead of -es.

5. The WEAK and MIXED declensions have " -en" everywhere EXCEPT in the nominative singular (ALL gender) and the feminine and neuter accusative singular.

Therefore, most attribute adjectives end in " -en" (in weak and mix declensions).