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### Adjectives after indefinite and possessive articles

When discussing family enterprises and business legacies, you will frequently use Genitive phrases to show ownership, such as "the business *of a* founder" or "the successor *of my* father."

Good news for Genitive adjective endings: after indefinite (*ein*), possessive (*mein*, *unser*, etc.), and negative (*kein*) articles, the adjective always ends in **-en**—just like after definite articles.

For masculine and neuter nouns, the article takes an **-es** ending (becoming *eines*, *meines*, *keines*), the noun itself gets an **-(e)s** ending, and the adjective takes **-en**.

{{item:874553}}

{{item:874560}}

{{item:874575}}

For feminine nouns, the article takes an **-er** ending (becoming *einer*, *meiner*, *keiner*). The noun does not change, and the adjective simply takes **-en**.

{{item:874567}}

### Adjectives with no article (Zero article)

When an adjective and noun are used without an article, the adjective does the heavy lifting to show the case. For feminine and plural Genitive nouns with no article, the adjective takes the strong ending **-er**.

Notice how the adjective *lang* takes the **-er** ending here to show that the feminine noun *Tradition* is in the Genitive case:

{{item:874571}}

And here is the same rule applying to a plural noun (*Kunden*):

{{item:874570}}

### Genitive declension at a glance

Here is a quick summary of how indefinite, possessive, and negative articles—along with their adjectives and nouns—change in the Genitive case:

| Gender | Article | Adjective Ending | Noun Ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Masculine** | eines / meines | -en | -(e)s / -en |
| **Feminine** | einer / meiner | -en | - |
| **Neuter** | eines / meines | -en | -(e)s |
| **Plural** | meiner / keiner | -en | - |

Genitive adjective declension (indefinite and possessive articles)

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
the founder	der Gründer
the business	der Betrieb
The daughter of a successful founder is taking over the business.	Die Tochter eines erfolgreichen Gründers übernimmt den Betrieb.
local	lokal
the responsibility	die Verantwortung
Because of a local business, he has a lot of responsibility.	Wegen eines lokalen Betriebs hat er viel Verantwortung.
the successor	der Nachfolger
loyal	treu
to manage (direct, lead)	leiten
The successor of my loyal father manages the company today.	Der Nachfolger meines treuen Vaters leitet die Firma heute.
The new boss is taking over the business of a local founder.	Der neue Chef übernimmt den Betrieb eines lokalen Gründers.
to hand over	übergeben
the fortune	das Vermögen
I hand over the fortune of my old grandfather.	Ich übergebe das Vermögen meines alten Großvaters.
the value	der Wert
the tradition	die Tradition
We admire the value of a long tradition.	Wir bewundern den Wert einer langen Tradition.
The son is taking over the business of his sick father.	Der Sohn übernimmt den Betrieb seines kranken Vaters.
Despite a long tradition, they are selling the business.	Trotz einer langen Tradition verkaufen sie den Betrieb.
The value of loyal customers is always important.	Der Wert treuer Kunden ist immer wichtig.
We manage a company of long tradition.	Wir leiten ein Unternehmen langer Tradition.
The successor of our old boss takes over the responsibility.	Der Nachfolger unseres alten Chefs übernimmt die Verantwortung.
Because of a bad year, they are handing over the business.	Wegen eines schlechten Jahres übergeben sie den Betrieb.
He isn't taking over the responsibility of any large company.	Er übernimmt die Verantwortung keines großen Unternehmens.
The loss of a large fortune destroys the company.	Der Verlust eines großen Vermögens zerstört das Unternehmen.