Case Endings

German puts endings on articles, adjectives that precede nouns, and, occasionally on the nouns themselves in order to mark gender, case, and number. (The four cases, the nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive, are discussed elsewhere). Examples of the endings:

A strong back knows no pain. Masculine no m. Feminine Neuter Plural

der roteStu die neueLampe das alteBu die rotenSthle hl ch * kein keine neueLam * kein keine neuenLam roterStuhl pe altesBuch pen roter Stuhl neue Lampe altes Buch alte Bcher den roten Stu die neue Lam das alte B die roten Sthle hl pe uch * kein keinen roten S keine neue La keine neuen La altes Buch tuhl mpe mpen roten Stuhl neue Lampe altes Buch alte Bcher dem alten Buch altem Buch des alten Buches alten Buches den roten Sthlen alten Bchern der roten Sthle alter Bcher

ac c.

dat. gen.

dem roten Stuhl rotem Stuhl des roten Stuhles roten Stuhles

der neuen Lampe neuer Lampe der neuen Lampe neuer Lampe

The Palace. One of the first addresses for your exclusive rental desires.

There are also a number of "weak nouns" that take an "-n" (or "-en") in all cases but the nominative. Some examples:
nom. acc. dat. gen. nom. acc. dat. gen. nom. acc. dat. gen. der Mensch den Menschen dem Menschen des Menschen [human] der Bote den Boten dem Boten des Boten [messenger] der Jude den Juden dem Juden des Juden [Jew] der Nachbar den Nachbarn dem Nachbarn des Nachbarn [neighbor] der Kunde den Kunden dem Kunden des Kunden [customer] der Russe den Russen dem Russen des Russen [Russian] der Herr den Herrn dem Herrn des Herrn [lord; gentleman] der Junge den Jungen dem Jungen des Jungen [boy] der Kollege den Kollegen dem Kollegen des Kollegen [colleague] der Held den Helden dem Helden des Helden [hero] der Experte den Experten dem Experten des Experten [expert] der Riese den Riesen dem Riesen des Riesen [giant]

A number of weak nouns have the suffixes "-ant", "-arch", "-ege", "ent", "-ist", "-oge", "-om", "-oph", and "-ot". Some examples:
der Buddist [Buddhist] der Student [student] der Philosoph [philosopher] der Katholik [Catholic] der Komdiant [comedian] der Fotograf [photographer] der Protestant [Protestant] der Astronom [astronomer] der Enthusiast [enthusiast] der Pilot [pilot] der Patriarch [patriarch] der Anthropologe [anthropologist]

Note that all of these nouns are masculine. Furthermore, their plural forms are the same as their accusative, dative, and genitive singular

forms: e.g., den Studenten, dem Studenten, des Studenten; [plural:] die Studenten, den Studenten, der Studenten. ("Herr" is an exception: den Herrn, dem Herrn, des Herrn; [plural:] die Herren, den Herren, der Herren). A few weak nouns add "-ns" in the genitive, for example:
nom. acc. dat. gen. der Glaube den Glauben dem Glauben des Glaubens [belief] der Wille den Willen dem Willen des Willens [will] der Gedanke den Gedanken dem Gedanken des Gedankens [thought] der Name den Namen dem Namen des Namens [name]

One neuter noun is also weak in the dative and takes an "-ens" in the genitive:
nom. acc. dat. gen. das Herz das Herz dem Herzen des Herzens [heart]

Uninflected adjectives: Predicate adjectives, like adverbs, take no endings:

Das Haus ist schn. The house is beautiful. Alles bleibt ruhig. Everything remains quiet.

With the exception of ein (one"), cardinal numbers take no endings:

Ich habe eine Schwester und einen Bruder. I have one sister and one brother. Ich habe drei Schwestern. I have three sisters.

The best solution? Every second person has already found it. Berliner Sparkasse [Berlin Savings Bank]. Every second Berliner is already our customer. Demand more.

Ordinal numbers, on the other hand, act like normal adjectives:

Er ist der siebte Sohn eines siebten Sohnes. Das erste Mal ist immer schwierig. Der einunddreiigste Juni ist der letzte Tag des Finanzjahres. He is the seventh son of a seventh son. The first time is always hard. The thirty-first of June is the last day of the financial year.

Adjectives formed from city names always end in "-er", no matter what the number, gender, or case. They are also capitalized:
das Mnchner Bier der Mainzer Dom die Berliner Modeschpfer also: Schweizer Schokolade Munich beer the Mainz Cathedral the Berlin fashion designers Swiss chocolate

Adjectives that designate decades also end in "-er":

Brecht schrieb es in den zwanziger Jahren. Die fnfziger Jahre waren die Zeit des Wirtschaftswunders. Brecht wrote it in the 20's. The 50's were the time of the "economic miracle."

A few adjectives that end in "-a" take no endings:

Sie trgt ein lila Kleid. Sie trgt ein weies Kleid mit rosa Schleifen. Das war eine prima Idee! She's wearing a purple dress. She's wearing a white dress with pink bows. That was an excellent idea!

"genug" (enough), "super", and "lauter" (unmixed, unalloyed) also take no endings:
Es gibt genug Pltze hier. Du hast ein super Auto As famous as a brightly-colored dog. gekauft! Das sind lauter Lgen. [colloquial phrase] There are enough seats here. You've bought a fabulous car. Those are nothing but lies.

When preceding the name of a country or city and meaning "all of," "ganz" takes no endings:
In ganz Deutschland ist es so. That's how it is in all of Germany. Ganz Berlin feiert. All of Berlin is celebrating.

When "voll" means "full," it takes the usual endings, but when it means "full of", it becomes "voller", with no further endings:
Ich bernehme die volle Verantwortung. I'll take on the whole responsibility. Er hatte einen Sack voller Geld. He had a bag full of money. Ich war voller Tatendrang. I was full of a zest for action.

Berlin is full of contrasts. That's one of our greatest strengths.

When "viel" and "wenig" are not preceded by articles, they take no endings in the singular.
Wir haben es mit viel Flei gemacht. Er ist mit vielen Freunden gekommen. Du brauchst wenig Hilfe. Wenige Deutsche trinken gern amerikanischen Kaffee. We did it with a lot of applied effort. He came with a lot of friends. You don't need much help. Few Germans like to drink American coffee.

The nominative masculine and neuter and the accusative neuter are different when the article is an "einword." The articles in this category areein, kein, and the possessive pronouns: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr, ihr The so-called "der-words" are the articles der, die, das, dies-, jed-, jen, manch-, solch-, welch-.