Adjective Endings III: Without Article
When you use an adjective without any article — no der/die/das, no ein/eine — the adjective must carry the full case and gender signal on its own. This pattern is called strong inflection, and you meet it daily with food, drinks, materials, and plural nouns.
The good news: strong endings mostly mirror the definite article endings. Once you spot that shortcut, the whole table makes sense. There is only one small exception — genitive masculine and neuter — and you will have it all covered.
Why Adjectives Need Strong Endings
Every German noun phrase must contain at least one word that clearly marks gender and case through its ending. When a definite article (der/die/das) or indefinite article (ein/eine) is present, it does that job. When there is no article at all, the adjective steps in and uses strong endings to carry the missing information.
You will see this most often in three situations:
- Food and drink used without an article: Ich esse frisches Brot. / Er trinkt schwarzen Kaffee.
- Plural nouns without an article: Kleine Kinder lernen schnell.
- After prepositions with bare nouns: mit frischer Milch, bei gutem Wetter
The Strong Ending Table
Strong endings mirror the definite article endings — just remove the initial d- and attach the rest to the adjective stem. The one exception is the genitive masculine and neuter, where the ending is -en (not -es as you might expect from des).
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -e |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -e |
| Dative | -em | -er | -em | -en |
| Genitive | -en | -er | -en | -er |
Full paradigm with frisch-:
| Case | Masc (Kaffee) | Fem (Milch) | Neut (Brot) | Plural (Rosen) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom | frischer Kaffee | frische Milch | frisches Brot | frische Rosen |
| Acc | frischen Kaffee | frische Milch | frisches Brot | frische Rosen |
| Dat | frischem Kaffee | frischer Milch | frischem Brot | frischen Rosen |
| Gen | frischen Kaffees | frischer Milch | frischen Brotes | frischer Rosen |
Memory Trick: Strip the d-
Compare the definite article to the strong ending side by side:
| Definite Article | → | Strong Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| der | → | -er | alter Wein (nom masc) |
| die | → | -e | frische Milch (nom/acc fem) |
| das | → | -es | kaltes Wasser (nom/acc neut) |
| dem | → | -em | bei gutem Wetter (dat masc/neut) |
| den | → | -en | mit jungen Leuten (dat pl) |
⚠️ Exception — genitive masculine and neuter: the article is des, but the adjective ending is -en, not -es: der Geschmack frischen Kaffees (not frisches).
📖 Examples
Ich trinke gern schwarzen Kaffee.
I like to drink black coffee.
Frisches Brot riecht wunderbar.
Fresh bread smells wonderful.
Er kommt bei schlechtem Wetter nie raus.
He never goes out in bad weather.
Sie kauft rote Rosen für ihre Mutter.
She buys red roses for her mother.
Kaltes Wasser erfrischt mich immer.
Cold water always refreshes me.
Er spricht mit großem Enthusiasmus.
He speaks with great enthusiasm.
Kleine Kinder lernen Sprachen sehr schnell.
Small children learn languages very quickly.
Das Haus ist aus rotem Backstein gebaut.
The house is built from red brick.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Ich trinke schwarz Kaffee.Ich trinke schwarzen Kaffee.
Without an article, the adjective must signal accusative masculine. The strong accusative masculine ending is **-en**, so it must be *schwarzen*.
Frischer Milch schmeckt gut.Frische Milch schmeckt gut.
Feminine nominative without an article takes the strong ending **-e**, not *-er*. The ending *-er* belongs to feminine dative and genitive — a very common mix-up.
Er trinkt Kaffee mit kaltem Milch.Er trinkt Kaffee mit kalter Milch.
*Milch* is feminine. After *mit* (dative), the feminine strong dative ending is **-er**, not *-em*. The *-em* ending is only for masculine and neuter dative.
Das ist der Geschmack gutes Kaffees.Das ist der Geschmack guten Kaffees.
Genitive masculine is the one exception: the strong ending is **-en**, not *-es*, even though the definite article is *des*. Many learners write *-es* here by analogy — watch out for it.
✏️ Exercises
Test your understanding. Click an option or type your answer, then check.
Choose the correct form: Ich trinke ___ Kaffee. (schwarz- / accusative masculine)
Choose the correct form: ___ Brot schmeckt immer gut. (frisch- / nominative neuter)
Choose the correct form: Bei ___ Wetter bleiben wir zu Hause. (schlecht- / dative neuter)
Choose the correct form: Sie kauft ___ Rosen. (rot- / accusative plural)
Choose the correct form: Er kocht mit ___ Milch. (frisch- / dative feminine)
Choose the correct form: Das ist der Geschmack ___ Kaffees. (gut- / genitive masculine)
___ (kalt) Wasser erfrischte uns nach dem Lauf.
Ich esse jeden Morgen ___ (frisch) Brot mit Butter.
Sie trinkt ihren Tee immer mit ___ (heiß) Milch.
Er begrüßte seine Gäste mit ___ (herzlich) Worten.