Strong adjective declension

Stepping up: The strong declension

When you use a noun without an article (like der, ein, or mein), the adjective in front of it has to do the heavy lifting. Because there is no article to show the gender and case of the noun, the adjective takes a "strong" ending to provide this important information.

Nominative and accusative endings

For neuter nouns without an article, the adjective adds -es in both the nominative and accusative cases.

For feminine nouns, the adjective simply adds -e in both the nominative and accusative cases.

For masculine nouns in the nominative case (such as when the noun is the subject), the adjective adds -er.

The dative case

When an adjective with no article follows a dative preposition like mit (with), it must take a strong dative ending. For both masculine and neuter nouns, the adjective adds -em.

Summary table

Here is a quick overview of the strong adjective endings for singular nouns:

(Note: The strong accusative masculine ending is *-en, and the dative feminine ending is -er. You might recognize these as the exact same endings on the definite articles "den" and "der"!)*

Relaxing with aromatherapy

Now you have all the grammar you need to confidently describe essential oils, massages, and skincare in German!