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### 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.

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

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

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### 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**.

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### Summary table

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

| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Nominative** | -er | -e | -es |
| **Accusative** | -en | -e | -es |
| **Dative** | -em | -er | -em |

*(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!

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Strong adjective declension

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 perfume	das Parfüm
Good perfume costs a lot of money.	Gutes Parfüm kostet viel Geld.
to smell	riechen
Sweet perfume smells wonderful.	Süßes Parfüm riecht wunderbar.
essential / ethereal	ätherisch
Essential oil is often expensive.	Ätherisches Öl ist oft teuer.
the lavender	der Lavendel
Fresh lavender smells very good.	Frischer Lavendel riecht sehr gut.
Fresh lavender makes me happy.	Frischer Lavendel macht mich glücklich.
calming / soothing	beruhigend
the massage	die Massage
Calming music is important for the massage.	Beruhigende Musik ist wichtig für die Massage.
Warm oil is perfect for the massage.	Warmes Öl ist perfekt für die Massage.
I need essential oil when I am tired.	Ich brauche ätherisches Öl, wenn ich müde bin.
When you have stress, calming lavender helps.	Wenn du Stress hast, hilft beruhigender Lavendel.
Do you feel like trying new perfume?	Hast du Lust, neues Parfüm zu probieren?
the skin	die Haut
Warm oil is good for healthy skin.	Warmes Öl ist gut für gesunde Haut.
Cheap soap is dangerous for soft skin.	Billige Seife ist gefährlich für weiche Haut.
I wash my face with warm water.	Ich wasche mein Gesicht mit warmem Wasser.
pleasant	angenehm
the scent / the fragrance	der Duft
We are looking for a shampoo with a pleasant scent.	Wir suchen ein Shampoo mit angenehmem Duft.
Pleasant fragrance is important for the massage.	Angenehmer Duft ist wichtig für die Massage.

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