Adjective endings after der, die, das

After the definite article, adjective endings are the easiest in German: there are only two, -e and -en. You just need to know which five boxes take -e.

By the Desi European Tales editorial team · Updated 1 November 2026

Only two endings: -e and -en

When an adjective stands between der, die, das and a noun, it gets an ending. Because the article already shows gender and case clearly, the adjective only needs a weak ending: -e or -en.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	der neue Kollege	die neue Kollegin	das neue Büro	die neuen Kollegen
Accusative	den neuen Kollegen	die neue Kollegin	das neue Büro	die neuen Kollegen
Dative	dem neuen Kollegen	der neuen Kollegin	dem neuen Büro	den neuen Kollegen

The -e appears in only five places: the three nominative singular forms and the feminine and neuter accusative. Draw a line around them and you will see a shape like an L or a fork. Everywhere else – masculine accusative, all dative forms and all plurals – the ending is -en.

Examples

Der indische Tee schmeckt sehr gut. – The Indian tea tastes very good.
Ich nehme den blauen Pullover. – I'll take the blue jumper.
Kennst du die neue Nachbarin? – Do you know the new neighbour?
Wir wohnen in dem gelben Haus an der Ecke. – We live in the yellow house on the corner.
Die schwarzen Schuhe waren im Angebot. – The black shoes were on offer.
Ich spreche gerade mit dem jungen Mann am Schalter. – I'm just talking to the young man at the counter.
Das große Zimmer ist für die Kinder. – The big room is for the children.

The same endings after dieser, welcher, jeder and alle

Words that take the same endings as der, die, das – dieser (this), welcher (which), jeder (every), jener (that) and alle (all, plural) – are followed by exactly the same adjective endings.

Dieser rote Rock gefällt mir. – I like this red skirt.
Welches grüne Kleid meinst du? – Which green dress do you mean?
Jeder neue Mitarbeiter bekommt einen Laptop. – Every new employee gets a laptop.
Alle deutschen Kurse beginnen im September. – All German courses start in September.

This is great news: once you know this table, you can also use it in shops when you point at things with dieser and welcher.

Spelling changes

hoch loses its c: der hohe Turm.
Adjectives in -el drop the e: dunkel → das dunkle Zimmer.
Adjectives in -er usually drop it too: teuer → das teure Auto, sauer → die saure Milch.
Adjectives from city names end in -er and never change: der Kölner Dom, die Berliner Mauer.

A quick way to check yourself: look at the article first. If it is den, dem or any plural article, the adjective almost always ends in -en. Only with der, die and das in the singular can it be -e – and then only in the nominative, or with feminine and neuter nouns in the accusative.

Common mistakes

Not quite	Correct	Why
Der neuer Kollege ist nett.	Der neue Kollege ist nett.	After der the article already shows the gender; in the nominative singular the adjective takes -e.
Ich kaufe den grüne Rock.	Ich kaufe den grünen Rock.	Masculine accusative after den takes -en.
Ich treffe mich mit den alte Freunde.	Ich treffe mich mit den alten Freunden.	Dative plural: the adjective takes -en and the noun adds -n.
Das teuere Auto gehört meinem Chef.	Das teure Auto gehört meinem Chef.	teuer usually drops its e before an ending: teure.

Practice questions

Practise it in the course

Back to the grammar reference or to the A2 lessons.

Sources

Original practice questions written by the Desi European Tales editorial team; they are not the official exam questions. Checked 1 November 2026.

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