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When working in a master perfumer's workshop, you aren't just dealing with one type of vanilla or a single aroma. You're dealing with *all sorts of* rare extracts! To describe this variety, German uses the suffix **-erlei**.

### Invariant adjectives of variety

By adding the suffix **-erlei** to indefinite pronouns (like *all* or *viel*) or numbers, you create an adjective that means "kinds of" or "sorts of". 

These adjectives are completely **invariant**—they never change their endings, regardless of the noun's gender, case, or number.

Let's start with the indefinite pronouns **allerlei** (all sorts of) and **vielerlei** (many kinds of):

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### Counting varieties

When a recipe calls for specific blends, you can attach **-erlei** directly to numbers. For example, adding it to **zwei** (two) or **drei** (three) gives you **zweierlei** (two kinds of) and **dreierlei** (three kinds of).

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### Absolutely none

To express that a quality or ingredient is completely absent, use **keinerlei**. Built from *kein*, this translates to "no kind of" or "none whatsoever".

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Adjectives of variety (-erlei)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
all sorts of	allerlei
the aroma	das Aroma
the essence	die Essenz
The master blends all sorts of aromas and essences.	Der Meister mischt allerlei Aromen und Essenzen.
the little bottle	das Fläschchen
Before we begin, we fetch all sorts of little bottles.	Ehe wir anfangen, holen wir allerlei Fläschchen.
many kinds of	vielerlei
the nuance	die Nuance
The scent of the new essence shows many kinds of nuances.	Der Duft der neuen Essenz zeigt vielerlei Nuancen.
You will probably try out many kinds of aromas with the pipette.	Du wirst wohl vielerlei Aromen mit der Pipette ausprobieren.
two kinds of	zweierlei
the vanilla	die Vanille
the sandalwood	das Sandelholz
I am adding two kinds of vanilla and a little bit of sandalwood.	Ich füge zweierlei Vanille und ein bisschen Sandelholz hinzu.
Unfortunately, I dropped two kinds of little bottles!	Mir sind leider zweierlei Fläschchen heruntergefallen!
three kinds of	dreierlei
Before you test the extract, we are blending three kinds of sandalwood.	Ehe du den Extrakt testest, mischen wir dreierlei Sandelholz.
The recipe requires three kinds of nuances of vanilla.	Das Rezept verlangt dreierlei Nuancen von Vanille.
no kind of	keinerlei
Anna's perfume has no aroma whatsoever.	Annas Parfüm hat keinerlei Aroma.
The extract offers no fruity nuances whatsoever.	Der Extrakt bietet keinerlei fruchtige Nuancen.
On the table stand all sorts of little bottles with essences.	Auf dem Tisch stehen allerlei Fläschchen mit Essenzen.