When must an adjective be declined?
When it comes before a noun.
Translate “The dog is big and brown.”
Der Hund ist groß und braun.
The adjective does not need to be declined as it comes after the noun.
Translate “The big brown dog.”
Der große braune Hund.
n.b Der Hund is masculine, singular, nominative. The adjective ending for which, is E (a soft ending)
If there is no hard ending to the noun or article, what should be added to the adjective?
The hard ending should be added to the adjective.
I.E ein kleiner Hund
If there is a hard ending to the noun or article, what should be added to the adjective?
A soft ending should be added to the adjective. i.e der kleine Mann
What are the soft endings for adjectives when the noun is in the nominative case
(masc, fem, neuter and plural)?
- -e
- -e
- -e
- -en
What are the soft endings for adjectives when the noun is in the accusative case (masc, fem, neuter and plural)?
- -en
- -e
- -e
- -en
What are the soft endings for adjectives when the noun is in the dative case (masc, fem, neuter and plural)?
- -en
- -en
- -en
- -en
What are the soft endings for adjectives when the noun is in the genetive case (masc, fem, neuter and plural)?
- -en
- -en
- -en
- -en
Translate in the nominative case:-
“The nice man / woman / child / children”
Hard endings in bold, soft endings underlined. With a definite article the adjective ending is always soft.
- Nominative
- der nett_e_ Mann
- die nett_e_ Frau
- das nette Kind
- die netten Kinder
Translate in the accusative case:-
“The nice man / woman / child / children”
Hard endings in bold, soft endings underlined. With a definite article the adjective ending is always soft.
- Accusative
- den netten Mann
- die nette Frau
- das nette Kind
- die netten Kinder
Translate in the dative case:-
“The nice man / woman / child / children”
Hard endings in bold, soft endings underlined. With a definite article the adjective ending is always soft.
- Dative
- dem netten Mann
- der netten Frau
- dem netten Kind
- den netten Kindern
Translate in the genetive case:-
“The nice man / woman / child / children”
Hard endings in bold, soft endings underlined. With a definite article the adjective ending is always soft.
- Genitive
- des netten Mannes
- der netten Frau
- des netten Kindes
- der netten Kinder
Translate in the nominative case:-
“My little dog / cat / bunny / birds”
Hard endings in bold, soft endings underlined. For the indefinite and possessive articles, the adjective endings are the same as for the definite article, except for the two places where the article has no hard ending and the adjective has to take it on:
- Nominative
- mein kleiner Hund
- meine kleine Katze
- mein kleines Kaninchen
- meine kleinen Vögel
Translate in the accusative case:-
“My little dog / cat / bunny / birds”
Hard endings in bold, soft endings underlined. For the indefinite and possessive articles, the adjective endings are the same as for the definite article, except for the one place where the article has no hard ending and the adjective has to take it on:
- Accusative
- meinen kleinen Hund
- meine kleine Katze
- mein kleines Kaninchen
- meine kleinen Vögel
Translate in the dative case:-
“My little dog / cat / bunny / birds”
Hard endings in bold, soft endings underlined. For the indefinite and possessive articles, the adjective endings are the same as for the definite article.
- Dative
- meinem kleinen Hund
- meiner kleinen Katze
- meinem kleinen Kaninchen
- meinen kleinen Vögeln
Translate in the genetive case:-
“My little dog / cat / bunny / birds”
Hard endings in bold, soft endings underlined. For the indefinite and possessive articles, the adjective endings are the same as for the definite article.
- Genetive
- meines kleinen Hundes
- meiner klein_en_ Katze
- meines kleinen Kaninchens
- meiner kleinen Vögel
Translate in the nominative case:-
“hot coffee / cold milk / fresh bread / warm rolls”
With no article (“the taste of hot coffee”), the adjective always takes on the hard ending, except where it’s still there on the noun:
- Nominative
- heißer Kaffee
- kalte Milch
- frisches Brot
- warme Brötchen
Translate in the accusative case:-
“hot coffee / cold milk / fresh bread / warm rolls”
With no article (“the taste of hot coffee”), the adjective always takes on the hard ending, except where it’s still there on the noun:
- Accusative
- heißen Kaffee
- kalte Milch
- frisches Brot
- warme Brötchen
Translate in the dative case:-
“hot coffee / cold milk / fresh bread / warm rolls”
With no article (“the taste of hot coffee”), the adjective always takes on the hard ending, except where it’s still there on the noun:
- Dative
- heißem Kaffee
- kalter Milch
- frischem Brot
- warmen Brötchen
Translate in the genetive case:-
“hot coffee / cold milk / fresh bread / warm rolls”
With no article (“the taste of hot coffee”), the adjective always takes on the hard ending, except where it’s still there on the noun:
- Genitive
- heiß_en_ Kaffees
- kalter Milch
- frischen Brotes
- warmer Brötchen
Translate “My car is small”
Mein Auto ist klein.
Translate “Your car is smaller.”
Dein Auto is kleiner.
Translate “His car is the smallest.”
Sein Auto ist am kleinsten.
