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Adjective Endings in the Nominative Case

☰ List of all topics in the level A1

Level A1 Introduction Unit 1 Alphabet and pronunciation Unit 2 Diphthongs and constant combinations Unit 3 German nouns and their genders Unit 4 Articles in the nominative case Unit 5 Pronouns in the nominative case Unit 6 Verb sein in present Unit 7 Verb sein in imperfect Unit 8 Verb haben Unit 9 Present tense Unit 10 Modal Verbs Unit 11 Nominalization of verbs Unit 12 Adjective endings in nominative case Unit 13 Making plural nouns Unit 14 Numbers in German Unit 15 Accusative case Unit 16 Pronouns in accusative case Unit 17 Prepositions with accusative case Unit 18 Questions with interrogative pronouns Unit 19 Asking questions without interrogative pronouns

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We began the topic of adjective endings in lesson 8. During that lesson, we specifically focused on "adjective endings after indefinite articles in the nominative case." In this lesson, we are going to discuss adjective endings after both definite and indefinite articles, as well as situations where adjectives are used without articles in the nominative case (subjective case).


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While German and English both belong to the Germanic family of languages, a significant point of differentiation lies in their adjective endings. In German, adjective endings experience changes based on the preceding article, whether it is definite or indefinite, and the nature of the succeeding noun. The gender and grammatical number (singular or plural), of a noun impact the adjective ending that precedes it.

The following table explains all three types of adjective endings in the nominative case.

On small screens, please drag the following tables right or left to view the full width.
Mas. Fem. Neu. pl.
After a definite article der
-e 		die
-e 		das
-e 		die
-en
After an indefinite article ein
-er 		eine
-e 		ein
-es 		(k)eine
-en
Without an article -er -e -es -e

Examples of adjective endings with definite articles (der, die, das):
der gute Mann
(the good man)

die gute Frau
(the good woman)

das gute Mädchen
(the good girl)

Adjectives of plural nouns, after definite articles, take the "en" ending in all three genders. For example:
die guten Männer
(the good men)

die guten Frauen
(the good woman)

die guten Mädchen
(the good girls)

Below are all the examples in tabular form.

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Type of article Masculine Feminine Neuter
After
definite article 		der gute Mann die gute Frau das gute Mädchen
After
indefinite article 		ein guter Mann eine gute Frau ein gutes Mädchen
Without article guter Mann gute Frau gutes Mädchen

Plurals of all three genders take "en" endings after definite and indefinite articles in the nominative case.Adjectives without articles take "e" endings.

Type of article Adjective endings before plural nouns
After
definite article 		die guten Männer,
die guten Frauen,
die guten Mädchen
After
indefinite article 		(k)eine guten Männer,
(k)eine guten Frauen,
(k)eine guten Mädchen
Without article gute Männer,
gute Frauen,
gute Mädchen

We know some examples from lesson 8, like:
1. Das ist doch ein schönes Auto.
2. Danke, und auch ein sehr schnelles Auto.
Das Auto is a neuter article. The above table shows that in the nominative case, the adjective of a neuter noun takes the "-es" ending after an indefinite article. That's why we have "-es" in "ein schönes Auto" and "ein sehr schnelles Auto".

Please also note that the adjectives placed after nouns don't have any endings.
Das Auto ist schön. (The car is beautiful.)
Der Mann ist gut. (The man is good.)
Der Junge ist sehr fleißige. (The boy is very hardworking.)

Some more examples

Der fleißige Junge studiert Medizin. (The hardworking boy is studying medicine.)
Die schnelle Joggerin ist Goldmedaillengewinner. (The fast (female) jogger is a gold medalist.)
Das hübsche Mädchen arbeitet in Hollywood. (The pretty girl works in Hollywood.)

Examples with indefinite articles

Chinesisch ist schwierig. (Chinese is difficult.)
Japanisch ist eine schwierige Sprache. (Japanese is a difficult language.)
Deutsch ist keine schwierige Sprache. (German is not a difficult language.)
Das hübsche Mädchen sagt, Englisch ist eine einfache Sprache. (The pretty girl says, English is a simple language.)
Der fleißige Junge fragt, warum die Chinesen eine schwierige Sprache sprechen? Aber er findet keine Antwort. (The hardworking boy asks, why the Chinese (people) speak a difficult language? But he doesn't find an answer. )
Ein fleißiger Junge wohnt hier und arbeitet in Berlin. Der kommt zu Hause nach 17 Uhr. (A hardworking boy lives here and works in Berlin. He comes home after 5 p.m.)
Eine gute Hausfrau ist immer eine gute Managerin. (A good housewife is always a good manager.)
Ein starkes Mädchen wohnt neben Fitness-Klub. Sie heißt Sabine Wolfschmidt. (A strong girl lives next to the fitness club. Her name is Sabine Wolfschmidt.)
Keine guten Jungen wohnen neben Hauptbahnhof. (No good boys live next to the main train station.)

Examples without articles

Hallo guter Mann, wissen Sie, wo der Busbahnhof ist? (Hello good man, do you know where the bus station is?)
Es fahren keine Busse hier. Sie müssen zu fuß laufen. (There are no buses here. You have to walk.)
Es gibt keine Busse hier? Seltsam, was für ein Dorf ist das? (There are no buses here? Strange, what kind of village is that?)
Ja, wir alle laufen zu fuß hier und deshalb sind wir gesund. (Yes, we all walk here and that's why we're healthy.)
Gute Männer und gute Frauen sind immer pünktlich. (Good men and good women are always on time.)
Sie können auch sagen gute Leute sind immer pünktlich. Warum machen Sie die Sätze zu lang? (You can also say good people are always on time. Why are you making the sentences too long?)
Wir lernen hier eine Sprache. Deshalb sind lange Sätze gut. Später können Sie kurze Sätze benutzen. (We are learning a language here. That's why long sentences are good. You can use short sentences later.)

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