Strong, Weak, and Mixed Declension Patterns

You have now seen adjective endings in all four cases. This lesson consolidates your knowledge by examining the logic behind the three declension patterns, providing comprehensive reference tables, and giving you strategies for choosing the right ending quickly and confidently.

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The Fundamental Principle

German requires that the gender, number, and case of a noun be signalled clearly. This signal can come from:

1. The article (definite, indefinite, possessive, etc.)
2. The adjective ending
3. Both (some redundancy is built into the system)

The key insight:

When the article clearly shows gender/case, the adjective relaxes with a weak ending (-e or -en). When the article is ambiguous or absent, the adjective steps up with a strong ending that carries the signal itself.

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Weak Declension: After der-Words

Used after: der, die, das, die (plural) and other der-words (dieser, jeder, jener, welcher, alle, beide, sämtliche, solche, mancher).

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	-e	-e	-e	-en
Accusative	-en	-e	-e	-en
Dative	-en	-en	-en	-en
Genitive	-en	-en	-en	-en

Shortcut: The ending is -e in the five "clean" nominative/accusative slots (nom. m/f/n, acc. f/n) and -en everywhere else.

Example: der alte Mann (the old man)

Case	Form
Nominative	der alte Mann
Accusative	den alten Mann
Dative	dem alten Mann
Genitive	des alten Mannes

Example: die kleine Katze (the small cat)

Case	Form
Nominative	die kleine Katze
Accusative	die kleine Katze
Dative	der kleinen Katze
Genitive	der kleinen Katze

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Mixed Declension: After ein-Words

Used after: ein, eine, ein, kein/keine and possessives (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr).

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	-er	-e	-es	-en
Accusative	-en	-e	-es	-en
Dative	-en	-en	-en	-en
Genitive	-en	-en	-en	-en

Why the difference? The indefinite article ein does not distinguish between masculine nominative and neuter nominative:

• ein Mann (masculine) vs ein Kind (neuter) — both just ein!

So the adjective must compensate:

• ein guter Mann (the -er signals masculine)
• ein gutes Kind (the -es signals neuter)

For all other forms, the article already carries enough information, so the adjective uses -e or -en.

Example: mein neuer Computer (my new computer)

Case	Form
Nominative	mein neuer Computer
Accusative	meinen neuen Computer
Dative	meinem neuen Computer
Genitive	meines neuen Computers

Example: eine gute Idee (a good idea)

Case	Form
Nominative	eine gute Idee
Accusative	eine gute Idee
Dative	einer guten Idee
Genitive	einer guten Idee

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Strong Declension: No Article

Used when: There is no article at all before the adjective. The adjective must carry all gender/case information.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	-er	-e	-es	-e
Accusative	-en	-e	-es	-e
Dative	-em	-er	-em	-en
Genitive	-en	-er	-en	-er