Mixed Adjective Declension (after ein-words)

The mixed declension is exactly what its name suggests: a blend of the weak and strong patterns. It applies after ein-words, and it exists to solve a specific problem. The indefinite article ein is a little defective — in three of its forms it carries no ending at all, and therefore shows no gender or case. Where ein falls silent, the adjective must speak. So in those three gaps the adjective takes a strong ending to mark the case, while everywhere else — where ein does inflect and does show the case — the adjective relaxes into the weak -en.

This page identifies the ein-words, presents the full table with the three strong cells highlighted, and explains the elegant logic that makes the pattern predictable rather than arbitrary.

When the mixed declension applies

Use mixed endings after an ein-word. These are the words that decline like the indefinite article ein:

• ein — a / an
• kein — no, not a (the negation of ein)
• the possessives: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr

All of these share the same skeleton, including the same three endingless forms. So an adjective after mein behaves exactly as it does after ein.

The problem: where ein shows nothing

First look at the indefinite article on its own, with no adjective. Notice the three blank-looking cells where ein takes no ending:

There are the three trouble spots: nominative masculine (ein), nominative neuter (ein), and accusative neuter (ein). In each, the bare ein tells you nothing about gender or case. Everywhere else — einen, einem, eine, einer, eines — the article inflects and does its job.

The solution: the full mixed table

Now the adjective fills those gaps. In the three endingless cells the adjective takes a strong ending (shown in bold); everywhere else it takes the weak -en (or, in the surviving feminine/neuter spots, the weak -e).

The three strong cells are:

• Nominative masculine: ein gut*er Mann — the -er that *ein failed to supply
• Nominative neuter: ein gut*es Kind — the -es that *ein failed to supply
• Accusative neuter: ein gut*es Kind — same -es* (nominative and accusative neuter look identical)

Every other cell in the singular and the entire plural is weak: -e in the two surviving feminine spots (nom./acc. eine gute Frau), and -en everywhere else.

Why the gaps need plugging

The whole design follows one principle: the case and gender must be marked somewhere in the noun phrase. Compare these two:

In der gute Mann, the article der already announces nominative masculine, so the adjective weakens to -e. In ein guter Mann, the article ein announces nothing, so the adjective must announce it — and it does, with the strong -er that der would otherwise have carried. The adjective is patching the hole the indefinite article left. This is the same one-strong-marker logic that ties all three declensions together on the unified system page.

Mixed endings in context

Watch the three strong cells appear in natural sentences, then contrast them with the weak cells around them.

Now the weak cells, where ein itself is doing the marking and the adjective falls back to -en / -e:

Look closely at the masculine pair: ein gut*er Freund (nominative, strong -er) but einen gut**en Arzt (accusative, weak -en). The instant the article gains an ending — *ein → einen — the adjective is released back to weak -en. The two endings hand the case-marking baton back and forth depending on whether the article is pulling its weight.

English contrast

English speakers find the mixed declension uniquely disorienting because there is no scaffolding for it. In English "a good man," "a good child," "a good woman" are all identical — good never moves. German, by contrast, makes you decide each time whether the indefinite article is carrying the load or whether you must. The good news: once you have internalized the strong and weak patterns separately, mixed is not a third thing to learn. It is just the rule "use strong where ein is blank, weak where ein inflects." There are only three blanks to remember, and two of them are the same form (-es, neuter).

Common Mistakes

The signature mixed-declension error: using the weak -e in a gap that requires strong -er. Since ein (nominative masculine) is endingless, the adjective must supply the -er that der would have shown.

Same gap, neuter version. Ein before a neuter noun is blank, so the adjective takes the strong -es that das would have carried.

The over-correction trap. In the accusative masculine, the article does inflect (ein → einen), so this is not a gap — the adjective falls back to weak -en. Don't reflexively put a strong ending after every ein-word; only the three blanks call for it.

There is no plural ein, so the plural ein-word (meine, keine …) always inflects and always shows the case. That means the plural is uniformly weak -en — never a strong ending.

Key Takeaways

• Mixed endings apply after ein-words: ein, kein, and the possessives mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr.
• The pattern is weak by default, strong in exactly three cells: nominative masculine (-er), nominative neuter (-es), and accusative neuter (-es).
• Those three cells are precisely where ein itself takes no ending and shows no case, so the adjective steps in.
• The moment the ein-word inflects (einen, einem, einer, eines, eine), the adjective returns to weak -en (or -e in the feminine nom./acc.).
• The plural is always weak -en, because ein has no plural and its plural stand-ins always inflect.