There are three patterns of declension for adjectives depending on whether they are accompanied by a definite article, indefinite article or no article.
Declension of adjectives preceded by a definite article
This chart shows you how an adjective's form changes when there is a definite article. The pattern has only the endings -e and -en.
Example:
Wollen Sie die graue oder die schwarze Tastatur?
Masculine | Feminine | |||
Nominative | der neue Drucker | die neue Tastatur | ||
Accusative | den neuen Drucker | die neue Tastatur | ||
Neuter | Plural | |||
Nominative | das neue Notebook | die neuen Computer | ||
Accusative | das neue Notebook | die neuen Computer |
Declension of adjectives preceded by an indefinite article
The declension following an indefinite article also applies to the possessive determiners (possessive adjectives) "mein", "dein", "ihr", etc. and the negation article "kein". In the singular in the nominative and accusative cases, the adjective changes to reflect the endings of definite articles. Since the indefinite article has no plural, the adjective endings are shown here using the example of "kein".
Example:
Hier ist Ihr neuer Arbeitsplatz.
Masculine | Feminine | |||
Nominative | ein neuer Drucker | eine neue Tastatur | ||
Accusative | einen neuen Drucker | eine neue Tastatur | ||
Neuter | Plural | |||
Nominative | ein neues Notebook | keine neuen Computer | ||
Accusative | ein neues Notebook | keine neuen Computer |
Declension of articles when there is no article
This pattern is common for the plural, but rare in the singular. You need it, for instance, after ordinal numbers "two" and up.
In the nominative and accusatives cases, the adjective changes to reflect the endings of definite articles.
Example:
Jeden Tag gibt es drei warme Gerichte.
Masculine | Feminine | |||
Nominative | der Drucker neuer Drucker |
die Tastatur neue Tastatur |
||
Accusative | den Drucker neuen Drucker |
die Tastatur neue Tastatur |
||
Neuter | Plural | |||
Nominative | das Notebook neues Notebook |
die Computer neue Computer |
||
Accusative | das Notebook neues Notebook |
die Computer neue Computer |