B1 → Grammar · Lesson 14 of 23

German Adjective Endings Without an Article

die Adjektivdeklination ohne Artikel

Before this lesson: make sure you've covered Pronominal Adverbs in Context first.

A2 taught you adjective endings after der/die/das and ein/eine. B1 completes the system: when there's NO article at all (plural, or uncountable nouns like coffee or bread), the adjective itself has to do the article's job and show the case clearly — using strong endings.

See it in action

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominativ	guter Kaffee	frische Milch	kaltes Wasser	frische Eier
Akkusativ	guten Kaffee	frische Milch	kaltes Wasser	frische Eier
Dativ	gutem Kaffee	frischer Milch	kaltem Wasser	frischen Eiern

Adjectives as nouns

Some adjectives are used as nouns and still take adjective endings: der/die Deutsche (the German person), etwas Neues (something new).

Memory trick: Without an article, the adjective ending copies almost exactly what der/die/das would have shown — that's why these are called 'strong' endings: they carry the full information alone.

⚠ Common mistake: Don't use the same weak endings (-e/-en) you learned for der/ein-words when there's no article at all — "guter Kaffee", not "gute Kaffee", in the Nominativ.

🎯 Quick check

'Ich trinke gern ___ Tee.' (hot, no article, Akkusativ, masculine)

German Adjective Endings Without an Article

See it in action

Adjectives as nouns

🎯 Quick check

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