German declension
Nominative
The nominative is used if
Name*
name
*(“Name” is nominative)
- If the word makes up part of the subject:
Mein Name hat 5 Buchstaben*
My name has five letters
*(“Mein Name” has the function of a subject and is declined in the nominative)
- If the word forms part of the object of the predicate and the sentence is formed with the copulative verb (sein, werden or bleiben)*
María ist mein Name*
Maria is my name
*(“Ist” is part the verb “sein” (copulative) and therefore the object is declined in nominative)
Accusative
Accusative is used if:
- If the word is a direct object in English, it will be accusative in 90% of the cases in German.
Ich sagte meinen Namen*
I said my name
*(“sagte” is from the verb “sagen”, which is a verb that is not copulative. For that reason, it is accusative)
Depending on the verb, the objects can be accusative, dative or with a preposition. Fortunately, most cases coincide with English ones all of the time. Be careful!
- If it follows a preposition that is accusative (bis, durch, für, gegen, ohne, um, wider) or comes after aWechselpräposition that indicates movement.
Ich gehe in die Schule*
I am going to school
*(“die Schule” is declined in accusative because it follows the preposition “in” and going which indicates movement)
Dative
- If the word is part of an Indirect Object in English, it will be dative in German in some 90% of the cases.
Ich schenke dir ein Heft*
I give you a notebook
*(“ein Heft” (the thing that is
given) is accusative and whom it is given to is dative)
- If it follows a preposition that is dative: “ab”, “aus”, “außer”, “bei”, “entgegen”, “entsprechend”, “mit”, “nach”, “seit”, von, zu or a Wechselpräposition if it does not indicate movement.
Genitive
- If the word is after the word “of” in English
Die Zukunft des Buches ist schwer*
The future of the book is difficult
*(In English genitive’s expressed with “of” or by adding an apostrophe to show possession. “Des Buches” is translated as “of the book” or “the book’s”)
- If it follows a preposition that is Genitive (anstatt, aufgrund, außerhalb, dank, statt, während, wegen)
The genitive is not used as often by Germans as the three other previous cases. Often, a noun object is made with the preposition “von” + Dative and the genitive preposition are sometimes used incorrectly as if they were dative.
You have to keep in mind that one word can fit the rules of different cases simultaneously. For example, it can be a subject while being a part of a noun object and follow a preposition that is dative. Which case would it be then? Nominative because it’s the subject, Genitive, because it’s the noun object or dative because it is after a preposition?
The answer is that the priorities are in this order:
- Following a preposition (governing with Accusative, Dative or Genitive)
- Being part of a genitive object (Genitive)
- The rest of the rules
The “hard” case endings are highlighted in yellow in these tables, and the “soft” adjective endings are underlined.
| TYPE 1: Definite Articles |
“The nice man / woman / child / children” |
|
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
NEUTER |
PLURAL |
| NOM |
der nette Mann |
die nette Frau |
das nette Kind |
die netten Kinder |
| ACC |
den netten Mann |
die nette Frau |
das nette Kind |
die netten Kinder |
| DAT |
dem netten Mann |
der nettenFrau |
dem netten Kind |
den nettenKindern |
| GEN |
des netten Mannes |
der nettenFrau |
des nettenKindes |
der netten Kinder |
| TYPE 2: Indefinite & Possessive Articles |
“My little dog / cat / bunny / birds” |
|
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
NEUTER |
PLURAL |
| NOM |
mein kleiner
Hund |
meine kleine
Katze |
mein kleines
Kaninchen |
meine kleinen
Vögel |
| ACC |
meinen kleinen
Hund |
meine kleine
Katze |
mein kleines
Kaninchen |
meine kleinen
Vögel |
| DAT |
meinem kleinen
Hund |
meiner kleinen
Katze |
meinem kleinen
Kaninchen |
meinen kleinen
Vögeln |
| GEN |
meines kleinen
Hundes |
meiner kleinen
Katze |
meines kleinen
Kaninchens |
meiner kleinen
Vögel |
| TYPE 3: No Article |
“hot coffee / cold milk / fresh bread / warm rolls” |
|
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
NEUTER |
PLURAL |
| NOM |
heißer Kaffee |
kalte Milch |
frisches Brot |
warme Brötchen |
| ACC |
heißen Kaffee |
kalte Milch |
frisches Brot |
warme Brötchen |
| DAT |
heißem Kaffee |
kalter Milch |
frischem Brot |
warmen Brötchen |
| GEN |
heißen Kaffees |
kalter Milch |
frischen Brotes |
warmer Brötchen |
Noun Declension
There are 2 types of noun declension: Regular and N-declension.
Regular declension
Applicable to most nouns.
Example: das Gas (the gas)
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
Article |
Noun |
Article |
Noun |
| Nominative |
das |
Gas |
die |
Gase |
| Accusative |
das |
Gas |
die |
Gase |
| Dative |
dem |
Gas |
den |
Gasen |
| Genitive |
des |
Gases |
der |
Gase |
N-declension
Applicable to some masculine nouns and a few neuter ones.
Example: der Name (the name)
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
Article |
Noun |
Article |
Noun |
| Nominative |
der |
Name |
die |
Namen |
| Accusative |
den |
Namen |
die |
Namen |
| Dative |
dem |
Namen |
den |
Namen |
| Genitive |
des |
Namens |
der |
Namen |
Just to make things more complicated, certain masculine nouns are “weak” and take an “n” ending in all cases except the nominative. For example, most of the words for “boy” in German (Junge, Bursche, Knabe, Bube) fall into this group:
|
SINGULAR |
PLURAL |
| Nominative |
der Junge |
die Jungen |
| Accusative |
den Jungen |
die Jungen |
| Dative |
dem Jungen |
den Jungen |
| Genitive |
des Jungen |
der Jungen |
There are at least a few hundred weak nouns and it’s impractical to memorize them all, but once you know some of the most common ones, you can start to recognize them. They fall into two basic groups. The first, which you just saw, end in
e and usually refer to people or animals:
| der Kunde (customer)
der Neffe (nephew)
der Russe (Russian)
der Schwede (Swede) |
der Soziologe (sociologist)
der Löwe (lion)
der Rabe (raven)
der Schimpanse (chimpanzee) |
These aren’t hard to remember, because there are very few masculine nouns in German that end in a single e and are
not weak.
Der Käse (cheese) is the only common one we can think of.
The only wrinkle with this group is that a few of them keep the genitive
s after the
n. These are often the ones that
don’t refer to a person or animal, like
der Wille (will, volition) or
der Friede(peace). So the genitive of those would be
des Willens and
des Friedens respectively. And the only non-masculine weak noun also works this way:
das Herz (heart) –>
des Herzens.
The second group is a little fuzzier, but it’s basically nouns with certain Latin and Greek endings. Most of them are so close to their English equivalents that we don’t even have to translate:
| der Elefant
der Emigrant
der Präsident |
der Kapitalist
der Kommunist
der Diplomat |
der Astronaut
der Kandidat
der Kamerad(comrade) |
Finally, there are a few weak nouns that don’t fit into either group. The most common are:
| der Bauer (farmer)
der Bär (bear)
der Held (hero)
der Mensch (person) |
der Nachbar (neighbor)
der Pilot
der Idiot
der Architekt |
You can find long lists of weak nouns, but you shouldn’t try to memorize them all. If you remember the basic types above, you’ll get most of them right, and if you don’t, it’s not a real barrier to comprehension anyway.
Declension of Adjectives
There are three types of declension for adjectives: Weak, mixed and strong.
Weak declension of Adjectives
The most common case for weak declension is the construction: (definite article) + (adjective with weak declension) + (Noun)
Das schöne Sofa
The beautiful sofa
Mixed declension of Adjectives
The most common mixed declension is the structure: (indefinite article) + (adjective with mixed declension) + (Noun)
Ein schönes Sofa
A beautiful sofa
Strong declension of adjectives
The most common case of strong declension is: (strong declension of adjective without article) + (Noun)
Schönes Sofa
Beautiful sofa
Adjective Functions
Adjectives can have 3 functions in a sentence and only the attributive function is declined. Let’s see the three functions to distinguish them from one another:
- Attributive (adjective accompanying a noun).
Der gute Mann arbeitet viel
[DECLINED]Often, it is understood which noun is being referred to so the adjective appears without the noun but it is still declined
Er mag den roten Apfel, ich mag den gelben
(apple is omitted in the second clause)
- Predicative (the adjective is in a sentence with the copulative verbs [ sein, bleiben and werden] and is not accompanied by a noun)
Der Mann ist gut[NOT DECLINED]
- Adverbial (the adjective behaves like an adverb)
Sie singt gut[NOT DECLINED]
Adjective declension
As we have stated, there are 3 types of declension, depending on the the particle that comes before the adjective:
- Weak declension (the definite article + adjective).
Das schöne Sofa
The beautiful sofa
- Mixed declension(indefinite article + adjective).
Ein schönes Sofa
A beautiful sofa
- Strong declination (no article + adjective).➜
Schönes Sofa
Beautiful sofa
Weak declension
The weak declension is used when:
- the definite articles (der, die, das)
or the pronouns:
- dieser (this)
- jener (that)
- derjenige (that one)
- derselbe (the same)
- welcher (which)
or declined indicators of quantity:
- jeder (every)
- mancher (some)
- alle (all)
come before the adjective and the adjective before the noun.
This is called weak declension because the case marker is not carried by the adjective but rather particle before it.
| Weak declension |
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominative |
der gute
Mann |
die gute
Frau |
das gute
Kind |
die guten
Männer/Frauen/Kinder |
| Accusative |
den guten
Mann |
die gute
Frau |
das gute
Kind |
die guten
Männer/Frauen/Kinder |
| Dative |
dem guten
Mann(e) |
der guten
Frau |
dem guten
Kind(e) |
den guten
Männern/Frauen/Kindern |
| Genitive |
des guten
Mannes |
der guten
Frau |
des guten
Kindes |
der guten
Männer/Frauen/Kinder |
If we look closely, we see that you just add “-e” or “-en”.
Mixed declension
Mixed declension is used when:
- the indefinite articles (ein,…)
- the possessive pronouns (mein, …)
- kein, … (none)
come before the adjective and the adjective before the noun.
| Mixed declension |
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominative |
ein guter
Mann |
eine gute
Frau |
ein gutes
Kind |
keine guten
Männer/Frauen/Kinder |
| Accusative |
einen guten
Mann |
eine gute
Frau |
ein gutes
Kind |
keine guten
Männer/Frauen/Kinder |
| Dative |
einem guten
Mann(e) |
einer guten
Frau |
einem guten
Kind(e) |
keinen guten
Männern/Frauen/Kindern |
| Genitive |
eines guten
Mannes |
einer guten
Frau |
eines guten
Kindes |
keiner guten
Männer/Frauen/Kinder |
Now that we’ve covered gender, plurals and case, here’s how they all fit together:
|
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
NEUTER |
PLURAL |
| Nominative
(subject) |
der Mann |
die Frau |
das Kind |
die Kinder |
| Accusative
(direct object) |
den Mann |
die Frau |
das Kind |
die Kinder |
| Dative
(indirect object) |
dem Mann |
der Frau |
dem Kind |
den Kindern |
| Genitive
(possession) |
des Mannes |
der Frau |
des Kindes |
der Kinder |
Again, notice that the noun itself rarely changes – it only picks up an ending in three places. Most of the changes take place in the article. The highlighted letters are the
signal or
“hard” endings; in addition to der/die/das, they apply as above to the following definite articles:
- dieser / diese / dieses (“this/that, these/those”)
- solcher / solche / solches (“such”)
- welcher / welche / welches (“which”)
And here are two more, but they sound poetic or fancy in modern German and are not used as often:
- jener / jene / jedes (“that, those”)
- mancher / manche / manches (“many a”)
You may be wondering how “that” and “those” can be rare words in any language. The short answer is that you can use “dies-“ for both this/these and that/those, as we’ve indicated above. The full answer is a little more complicated. Our
this/that distinction in English – what linguists call the
proximal/distal distinction – is not handled the same way in all languages, and German just doesn’t have it to the same degree.
Even “dies-” is less common than “this” in English; it’s most often used when distinguishing among a group of similar items, not just in referring to anything nearby. For example, if you’re helping someone pick out a dress, you’d say
Ich mag dieses Kleid (“I like
this one [as opposed to the others]”) but “this beer [in my hand] is too warm” would often just be
das Bier ist zu warm. It’s actually a bit more complicated than that, but it’s way too much to get into here. If you’re really struggling to get across a this/that distinction in German, remember that you can always use extra words to help (“this building
here,” “the guy
over there,” etc.)
The other two categories are the
indefinite articles (like a/an in English) and
possessives (my, your, his, etc). These words have the same hard endings as the definite articles above, except that they drop them in three places. Here’s how to say: “my dog/cat/bunny/birds”:
|
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
NEUTER |
PLURAL |
| Nominative
(subject) |
mein— Hund |
meine Katze |
mein—Kaninchen |
meine Vögel |
| Accusative
(direct object) |
meinen Hund |
meine Katze |
mein—Kaninchen |
meine Vögel |
| Dative
(indirect object) |
meinem Hund |
meiner Katze |
meinemKaninchen |
meinenVögeln |
| Genitive
(possession) |
meinesHundes |
meiner Katze |
meinesKaninchens |
meiner Vögel |
We will fully review the possessives in Section 6 (Pronouns), but here are the two indefinite articles:
- ein / eine / ein (“a/an ___”)
- kein / keine / kein (“no/not a ___“)
| Ein Hund folgte mir nach Hause.
A dog followed me home. |
Ich spreche kein Deutsch.
I speak no German. |
Das ist keine Lösung.
That’s not a solution. |
In learning these declensions, as well as the adjective forms in the
next section, it’s better to focus on those 16 hard endings and the few exceptions to them than to memorize every table by rote.
Strong declension
The strong declension is used when nothing comes before the adjective. But there are also other cases such as when the adjective is preceded by
any of the following pronouns:
- dergleichen, … (the same)
- derlei, … (such)
- dessen, deren (whose)
- wessen (whose)
- manch (some)
- etliche mehrere (a few more)
- etwas (something)
- ein bisschen (a bit)
- ein wenig (a little)
- ein paar (a couple)
or by:
- wie viel (how much)
- viel (a lot)
- wenig (little)
or declined indicators of quantity that are only used in the plural:
- viele (many)
- wenige (few)
- einige (some)
| Strong declension |
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominative |
guter Mann |
gute Frau |
gutes Kind |
gute
Männer/Frauen/Kinder |
| Accusative |
guten Mann |
gute Frau |
gutes Kind |
gute
Männer/Frauen/Kinder |
| Dative |
gutem Mann(e) |
guter Frau |
gutem Kind(e) |
guten Männern/
Frauen/Kindern |
| Genitive |
guten Mannes |
guter Frau |
guten Kindes |
guter Männer/
Frauen/Kinder |
Declension of 2 or more consecutive adjectives
If two or more consecutive adjectives are in a sentence, they will be declined with the same type of declension:
Wir möchten in einem guten japanischen Restaurant essen
We would like to eat in a good Japanese Restaurant
In this example, “gut” and “japanisch” are declined with the mixed declension because the adjectives are preceded by the indefinite article (ein).
“ein” is declined in dative (einem) because it is preceded by the preposition “in” (with a situational concept).
Pronoun declension
There are 3 types of declensions for pronouns: weak, mixed and strong but not all pronouns have the three declensions.
If you’d like more in-depth info, we suggest that you visit:
Declension of personal pronouns:
| Nominative |
Accusative |
Dative |
Genitive |
| ich |
I |
mich |
me |
mir |
me, to me |
meiner |
mine |
| du |
you |
dich |
you |
dir |
you, to you |
deiner |
yours |
| er |
he |
ihn |
him |
ihm |
him, to him |
seiner |
his |
| sie |
she |
sie |
her |
ihr |
her, to her |
ihrer |
hers |
| es |
it |
es |
it |
ihm |
it, to it |
seiner |
its |
| wir |
we |
uns |
us |
uns |
us, to us |
unser |
ours |
| ihr |
you
(speaking to a group) |
euch |
you |
euch |
you, to you |
euer |
yours |
| sie
Sie |
they
you (formal) |
sie
Sie |
them
you (formal) |
ihnen
Ihnen |
to them
to you |
ihrer
Ihrer |
theirs
yours |
Article declension
Definite Articles:
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominative |
der (the) |
die (the) |
das (the) |
die (the) |
| Accusative |
den |
die |
das |
die |
| Dative |
dem |
der |
dem |
den |
| Genitive |
des |
der |
des |
der |
Indefinite Articles:
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominative |
ein (a/an) |
eine (a/an) |
ein (a/an) |
— |
| Accusative |
einen |
eine |
ein |
— |
| Dative |
einem |
einer |
einem |
— |
| Genitive |
eines |
einer |
eines |
— |
Declension of cardinal numbers
The cardinal numbers are not declined with the exception of 1, 2 and 3.
Declension of 1 (eins)
- If the 1 is not followed by a noun, it is not declined and eins is always used:
Formel eins
Formula one
- If the “1” is followed by a noun, usually the weak declension is used, being equivalent to the indefinite article:
Ich habe eine Lampe
I have a lamp
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
Plural |
| Nominative |
ein |
eine |
ein |
— |
| Accusative |
einen |
eine |
ein |
— |
| Dative |
einem |
einer |
einem |
— |
| Genitive |
eines |
einer |
eines |
— |
Declension of 2 and 3
- If the 2 or 3 are not followed by a noun, they are not declined and simply zwei and drei are used:
- If the 2 or 3 are followed by a noun, they are declined only in the genitive in the case of them not being preceded by an article:
Abstand zweier Punkte
Distance of two points
|
Plural |
| Nominative
Accusative
Dative |
zwei / drei |
| Genitive |
zweier / dreier |
Declension of ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers follow the adjective declension rules.
An example of weak declension (given that the article “der” comes before the ordinal number in the genitive):
Die Kosten der zweiten Wohnung
The expenses of the second home
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