I. Usage of Strong Endings
A. Adjectives take strong endings when the noun lacks a modifier (definite articles, or a der-word) that shows information regarding the noun’s gender, case, and number.In the following examples, we see strong endings due to the lack of a modifier:
| deutsches Bier | German Bier |
| intelligente Leute | intelligent people |
| mit großer Kraft | with great strength |
| französischer Wein | French wine |
B. In the examples below, we see strong endings with the indefinite article ein, as it is the only article that does not show all necessary information about the noun. This occurs in three situations: with the nominative neuter, accusative neuter, and nominative masculine.
| ein großes Haus | a large house (neuter nominative) |
| ohne ein neues Fahrrad | without a new bike (neuter accusative) |
| ein netter Mann | a nice man (masculine nominative) |
C. Limiting Adjectives: wenig, etwas, genug, viel, and ein paar also take strong endings as they, themselves, do not change form.
| Es gibt jetzt im Büro wenig zuverlässige Leute. There are few dependable people in the office now. Er ist der Autor von ein paar guten Büchern. He is the author of a couple of good books. |
D. Strong endings also appear when adjectives follow certain possessive adjectives that lack necessary noun information. Possessive adjectives are discussed in a separate lesson.
| sein alter Computer | his old computer |
| dein bestes Kunstwerk | your best artwork |
| für ihr billiges Auto | for their cheap car |
II. Chart for Strong Endings
Below we see the strong adjective endings. As you can see, most of the endings look very similar to their corresponding definite article with the masculine and neuter genitive being exceptions:Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -e |
Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -e |
Dative | -em | -er | -em | -en |
Genitive | -en | -er | -en | -er |
III. Der-Words
The following adjectival pronouns follow the declension of definite articles and thus have endings very similar to strong endings. The der-words include: dieser, jeder, jener, mancher, welcher.| dieser Hund | this dog |
| zu jener Zeit | at that time |
| manche Ideen | some ideas |
| solches Schreiben | such writing |
| an welchem Tag | on which day |
| jedes Mal | every time |
As each der-word shows the necessary information regarding case, number, and gender, adjectives that follow always have weak endings.
| dieser kleine Hund | this little dog |
| für jeden neuen Student | for each new student |
| jenes schwarze Buch | that black book |