What You'll Learn: Apply the correct adjective endings in the genitive case, after dative and accusative prepositions, and understand why predicate adjectives never take endings.

Introduction to Adjective Endings II

In Adjective Endings I you mastered nominative and accusative declension. Now the system completes itself: the genitive case, adjectives after prepositions, and the crucial distinction between attributive adjectives (which take endings) and predicate adjectives (which never do). Once you understand these three patterns, you have the entire German adjective declension system — all four cases, all three genders, all three article types.

Why These Endings Matter

Genitive is everywhere in formal German: Written texts, academic language, journalism and literature all use genitive constructions constantly — das Haus des alten Mannes, trotz des schlechten Wetters.
Prepositions lock the case: Knowing which case a preposition requires tells you immediately which adjective ending to use. Get the preposition wrong and the whole phrase collapses.
Predicate adjectives trip up learners: English has no distinction, so many students incorrectly add endings to predicate adjectives: Das Haus ist groß, never großes.
Mixed declension fills in the gaps: After ein/eine, possessives and kein, the endings shift in three specific cells — knowing exactly which ones ends all uncertainty.

Understanding Adjective Endings II

The Genitive Case — All Three Article Types

In the genitive, the adjective ending is -en in almost every cell. The only exceptions are neuter and masculine after the definite article, where the noun already carries a genitive marker (-s/-es), and the ending stays -en. The full table:

Article type	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Definite (des/der/des/der)	-en	-en	-en	-en
Indefinite (eines/einer/eines)	-en	-en	-en	—
No article (zero)	-en	-er	-en	-er

Genitive Examples Across Genders

Gender	German phrase	English
Masculine (def.)	das Auto des alten Mannes	the old man's car
Feminine (def.)	die Tasche der jungen Frau	the young woman's bag
Neuter (def.)	der Preis des neuen Autos	the price of the new car
Plural (def.)	die Meinung der alten Leute	the opinion of the old people
Masculine (indef.)	die Hilfe eines guten Freundes	the help of a good friend
Zero article	trotz schlechten Wetters	despite bad weather

Adjectives After Dative Prepositions

The nine dative-only prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, gegenüber, außer) always trigger the dative case. In the dative, the adjective ending is -en everywhere — no exceptions. This is the easiest rule in the whole system.

Preposition	Meaning	Example	English
mit	with	mit dem alten Freund	with the old friend
bei	at/near	bei der kleinen Bäckerei	at the small bakery
aus	from/out of	aus einem kalten Land	from a cold country
seit	since/for	seit langer Zeit	for a long time
nach	after/to	nach der langen Reise	after the long journey
von	of/from	von einem berühmten Künstler	by a famous artist
zu	to/at	zu meiner alten Schule	to my old school
gegenüber	opposite	gegenüber dem neuen Rathaus	opposite the new town hall

Adjectives After Accusative Prepositions

The nine accusative prepositions (durch, für, gegen, ohne, um, bis, entlang, wider, je) trigger accusative endings on adjectives. These follow the standard accusative pattern from Adjective Endings I — only masculine changes (-en instead of -er/-em), feminine and neuter stay as nominative.

Preposition	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
für	für den alten Mann	für die alte Frau	für das alte Kind
durch	durch den dunklen Wald	durch die enge Straße	durch das große Tor
ohne	ohne einen guten Plan	ohne eine klare Antwort	ohne ein gutes Ergebnis
um	um den ganzen Block	um die ganze Stadt	um das ganze Gebäude

Predicate Adjectives — No Endings Ever

A predicate adjective follows the verb sein (to be), werden (to become), or bleiben (to stay) and refers back to the subject. Predicate adjectives in German have no endings at all — they are completely uninflected. This is one of the most common mistakes learners make.

Attributive (has ending)	Predicate (no ending)
Das ist ein altes* Haus.*	Das Haus ist alt.
Sie hat eine schöne* Stimme.*	Ihre Stimme ist schön.
Er kauft einen roten* Wagen.*	Der Wagen ist rot.
Wir sehen ein großes* Gebäude.*	Das Gebäude bleibt groß.

The Mixed Declension — Three Special Cells

After ein, kein and possessives (mein, dein, sein…), the adjective must compensate in exactly three cells where the article gives no gender signal. These are masculine nominative, neuter nominative, and neuter accusative.

	Masculine NOM	Neuter NOM	Neuter ACC	All others
Ending	-er	-es	-es	-en
Example	ein alter Mann	ein altes Haus	ein altes Haus (ACC)	eines alten Mannes

Step-by-Step Guide to Any Adjective Ending

Identify the noun's gender and case: What gender is the noun? What grammatical role does it play (subject, direct object, indirect object, possessive)?
Check the article: Is there a definite article (der/die/das), indefinite (ein/eine), possessive/kein, or no article?
Apply the three-question test: (a) Is there a preposition? → look it up and lock the case. (b) Is the adjective predicate? → no ending. (c) Is it genitive? → -en everywhere except zero-article feminine/plural.
Use the mixed three-cell rule: If the article is ein/kein/possessive, check if you are in masculine nominative or neuter nominative/accusative — if yes, use -er or -es. Otherwise use -en.
Say it aloud: Native speakers develop a feel for wrong endings. Forcing yourself to say the phrase out loud accelerates this instinct.

Pro Tip: In the dative case, the adjective ending is always -en — no matter which article type, no matter which gender. If you've identified a dative preposition or indirect object, just write -en and move on. It is the only case with a single universal ending.

Memory Pattern: Think of the adjective ending system as a "signal relay". The article signals gender first. If the article is strong (definite), the adjective relaxes to -en. If the article is weak or missing, the adjective picks up the signal itself — the "strong" ending. The three mixed cells are where ein goes silent and the adjective speaks up.

Key Examples

German	English	Note
trotz des schlechten Wetters	despite the bad weather	Genitive after trotz, def. → -en
wegen eines langen Staus	because of a long traffic jam	Genitive after wegen, indef. → -en
mit meinem alten Freund	with my old friend	Dative after mit, possessive → -en
bei der kleinen Bäckerei	at the small bakery	Dative after bei, def. → -en
für einen guten Zweck	for a good cause	Accusative after für, masc. → -en
durch das große Fenster	through the big window	Accusative after durch, neut. → -e
Das Wetter ist schön.	The weather is beautiful.	Predicate adj. → no ending
ein frisches Brötchen	a fresh bread roll	Mixed decl., neut. NOM → -es
die Meinung der alten Leute	the opinion of the old people	Genitive plural, def. → -en
aus kaltem Kaffee	from cold coffee	Dative after aus, zero article → -em
Sie bleibt stark.	She stays strong.	Predicate after bleiben → no ending
Er kauft einen roten Mantel.	He buys a red coat.	Accusative, masc. indef. → -en

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Das Haus ist großes.
- Fix: Predicate adjectives never take endings. After sein, werden, bleiben, the adjective is uninflected. Correct: Das Haus ist groß.
Mistake 2: trotz des schlechtem Wetters.
- Fix: Trotz takes genitive, not dative. Genitive of das Wetter (neuter) = des Wetters, adjective → -en. Correct: trotz des schlechten Wetters.
Mistake 3: mit dem alten Freunden.
- Fix: Mit takes dative singular, not plural. If referring to one friend: mit dem alten Freund. The noun Freund adds -en only in dative plural: mit den alten Freunden.
Mistake 4: für ein gutes Idee.
- Fix: Idee is feminine, so the article is eine, not ein. Accusative feminine after für: für eine gute Idee. The adjective ending is -e after indefinite feminine accusative.
Mistake 5: die Hilfe ein guten Freundes.
- Fix: In the genitive, even after eines, the adjective takes -en. But the article itself must be genitive too: die Hilfe eines guten Freundes.
Nuance 1: Wegen in colloquial spoken German is often followed by dative, especially in southern Germany. In formal writing, always use genitive: wegen des schlechten Wetters, not wegen dem schlechten Wetter.
Nuance 2: Some adjectives used as adverbs (modifying verbs, not nouns) also have no endings: Er arbeitet hart (He works hard) — hart here is an adverb, not a predicate adjective, but the principle is the same.

Cultural Insights

Genitive in formal writing: The genitive case is far more common in German formal writing than in speech. Germans are proud of correct genitive use — it is a marker of education. The phrase des Todes (of death) appears in literature, laws, and newspapers constantly.
The "genitive death" myth: Some claim the genitive is dying in spoken German, replaced by von + dative. This is true in casual speech — das Auto von meinem Vater instead of das Auto meines Vaters. But in writing and formal contexts, genitive is fully alive and expected.
Regional dative preposition variation: The preposition gegenüber can come before or after the noun in some dialects (dem Bahnhof gegenüber vs. gegenüber dem Bahnhof) — both are correct standard German.

Practice Scenarios

Formal Letter: Writing a complaint letter, e.g., Trotz des langen Wartens erhielt ich keine Antwort. (Despite the long wait, I received no reply.)
- Wegen des schlechten Services... (Because of the bad service...)
- Trotz mehrerer Versuche... (Despite several attempts...)
- mit freundlichen Grüßen (with kind regards)
Describing Places: Talking about a neighbourhood, e.g., Gegenüber dem alten Rathaus gibt es ein gutes Restaurant. (Opposite the old town hall there is a good restaurant.)
- neben dem großen Park (next to the big park)
- aus dem historischen Zentrum (from the historic centre)
- Das Gebäude ist sehr alt. (The building is very old.)
Shopping: Buying things with specific qualities, e.g., Ich suche einen langen schwarzen Mantel ohne einen zu hohen Preis. (I'm looking for a long black coat without too high a price.)
- für einen guten Zweck (for a good cause)
- ohne viele unnötige Extras (without many unnecessary extras)
- Das Material fühlt sich weich an. (The material feels soft.)
Academic Writing: Describing research, e.g., Die Ergebnisse des langen Experiments waren überraschend. (The results of the long experiment were surprising.)
- trotz des begrenzten Budgets (despite the limited budget)
- die Bedeutung der neuen Methode (the significance of the new method)
- Die Schlussfolgerungen sind klar. (The conclusions are clear.)

Follow-Up Questions

Why does the predicate adjective never take an ending?
- Example Answer: Because it is not directly connected to a noun — it describes the subject through the verb sein, werden or bleiben, and there is no noun for it to agree with in gender and case. Das Haus ist groß — groß stands alone.
What ending does an adjective always take in the dative case?
- Example Answer: Always -en, regardless of gender, article type, or whether singular or plural. Mit dem alten Freund, bei einer kleinen Bäckerei, aus kaltem Wasser — all end in -en.
Which three cells have special endings in the mixed declension?
- Example Answer: Masculine nominative takes -er (ein alter Mann), and neuter nominative and accusative both take -es (ein altes Haus). All other cells in the mixed declension take -en.
When should I use wegen with dative instead of genitive?
- Example Answer: In formal writing always use genitive: wegen des schlechten Wetters. In casual spoken German dative is commonly heard: wegen dem Wetter. For exams and professional writing, always choose genitive.

Conclusion

You have now completed the full adjective declension system. With genitive endings (almost always -en), the universal dative rule (-en everywhere), accusative preposition cases, and the predicate adjective exception, you can determine the correct ending in any German sentence. The three mixed declension cells are the last piece of the puzzle. Next, explore relative clauses, where adjective endings in the genitive create the complex attributive phrases that make German prose so precise.

Practice Makes Perfect

The exercises below will test genitive endings after prepositions like trotz and wegen, dative endings after all nine dative prepositions, and the predicate adjective rule. Pay special attention to trotz + genitive — it is the most commonly confused construction at this level.