Photoluminescence Math, Machines, and Music

At first glance, the declension of German adjective seems hard to remember. There are 3 kinds of declension: strong declension (without any article), mixed declension (with ein, kein, mein, sein and so on), and weak declension (with der, welcher, solcher, dieser, aller and so on). They change according to cases nominative [Nom], accusative [Acc], dative [Dat], and genitive [Gen], and genders masculine [Mas], feminine [Fem], neuter [Neut], and plural [Pl], so there are 12 combinations. However, not all of them has to be memorized.

In strong declension, adjectives always agree with the corresponding suffix, because they have to provide the information which definite articles usually do.

In mixed declension, adjectives agree with the corresponding suffix, only for these 6 items: Nom Mas, Fem, and Neut, and Acc Mas, Fem, and Neut, because some information is already given by the indefinite articles; otherwise, they end with en. The article agrees with the corresponding suffix, except for Nom Mas, Nom Neut, and Acc Neut, where no suffix is added; This rule should be known to a beginning learner.

In weak declension, adjectives end with e, for these 5 items: Nom Mas, Fem, and Neut, and Acc Fem and Neut, giving even less information; otherwise, they end with en. We summarize this in the table below.

Strong declension

Mixed declension

Weak declension

❧ September 5, 2021