A2 · GRAMMAR
Adjective Declension
When an adjective comes before a noun in German, it takes an ending: das Auto ist neu, but das neue Auto. Which ending appears depends on the word in front of it. The basic idea is: gender and case information only needs to appear once in the sentence. If the article already shows this info, the adjective just takes a simple -e / -en. If the article doesn't show it, the adjective takes over.
In this lesson
1. No adjective ending after verbs
After verbs: Das Auto ist neu.
2. After der/die/das
Only -e or -en.
der neue Laptop
new laptop
3. After ein/eine
Where ein has no ending, the adjective shows the gender: ein neuer Laptop, ein neues Auto.
4. Without an article
The adjective takes the article's ending: kalter Kaffee, kaltes Wasser, kalte Milch.
5. Dative and plural
After der/ein in Dative and plural, always -en.
mit dem neuen Auto
with the new car
💡 Quick rule: after der/die/das, -e is used in only 5 places (Nominative singular [3] + feminine/neuter Accusative [2]), and -en everywhere else.