Weak Endings of the Adjectives
Wherever the definite article, or a demonstrative or interrogative determiner [dieser, jener, welcher--the "der-words"] precedes the adjective, helping you identify the case of the noun, the adjective uses a set of endings which is quite unspecific as to case and gender. This set of endings is often called the weak endings.
The weak endings only use -e or -en as endings.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
| Nominative | -e | -en | ||
| Genitive | -en | -en | ||
| Dative | -en | -en | ||
| Accusative | -en | -e | -e | -en |
Note that the ending is -en except in the nominative singular, or in the feminine or neuter accusative singular. Do you see the plural weak ending is always –"en"? Let’s look at some examples. Please follow along as I read through the declination of adjectives for masculine, feminine and neuter nouns in their singular and plural forms:
| Masculine - Singular and Plural | ||
| Nominative | der rote Pullover | die roten Pullover |
| Genitive | des roten Pullovers | der roten Pullover |
| Dative | dem roten Pullover | den roten Pullovern |
| Accusative | den roten Pullover | die roten Pullover |
|
Feminine - Singular and Plural |
||
| Nominative | die rote Jacke | die roten Jacken |
| Genitive | der roten Jacke | der roten Jacken |
| Dative | der roten Jacke | den roten Jacken |
| Accusative | die rote Jacke | die roten Jacken |
|
Neuter - Singular and Plural |
||
| Nominative | das rote Kleid | die roten Kleider |
| Genitive | des roten Kleids | der roten Kleider |
| Dative | dem roten Kleid | den roten Kleidern |
| Accusative | das rote Kleid | die roten Kleider |