Adjective Endings: Accusative Case

The accusative case is used for the direct object of a sentence — the person or thing that receives the action. In this lesson, you will learn how adjective endings change in the accusative. The good news: only the masculine forms change from the nominative. Feminine, neuter, and plural endings remain the same.

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Accusative Adjective Endings at a Glance

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Weak (after den/die/das)	-en	-e	-e	-en
Mixed (after einen/eine/ein)	-en	-e	-es	-en
Strong (no article)	-en	-e	-es	-e

Compare with nominative — only the masculine column changes:

	Nominative Masc.	Accusative Masc.
Weak	-e	-en
Mixed	-er	-en
Strong	-er	-en

All three declension types use -en for masculine accusative. This is one of the easiest patterns to remember.

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Weak Declension: After Definite Articles (Accusative)

Gender	Article + Adjective + Noun	Ending
Masculine	den großen Mann	-en
Feminine	die große Frau	-e
Neuter	das große Haus	-e
Plural	die großen Häuser	-en

Examples

Sentence	Translation
Ich sehe den großen Hund.	I see the big dog.
Er kauft die neue Jacke.	He is buying the new jacket.
Wir besuchen das alte Museum.	We are visiting the old museum.
Sie liest die interessanten Bücher.	She reads the interesting books.
Kennst du den deutschen Film?	Do you know the German film?

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Mixed Declension: After Indefinite Articles (Accusative)

Gender	Article + Adjective + Noun	Ending
Masculine	einen großen Mann	-en
Feminine	eine große Frau	-e
Neuter	ein großes Haus	-es
Plural (kein/possessive)	keine großen Häuser	-en

Examples

Sentence	Translation
Ich habe einen guten Freund.	I have a good friend.
Sie sucht eine neue Wohnung.	She is looking for a new apartment.
Er trinkt ein kaltes Bier.	He is drinking a cold beer.
Wir brauchen keine teuren Möbel.	We don't need any expensive furniture.
Ich lese meinen neuen Roman.	I am reading my new novel.
Hast du seine alte Adresse?	Do you have his old address?

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Strong Declension: No Article (Accusative)

Gender	Adjective + Noun	Ending
Masculine	großen Mann	-en
Feminine	große Frau	-e
Neuter	großes Haus	-es
Plural	große Häuser	-e

Examples