Basic adjective endings after der-words (der alte Mann)

When an adjective sits between a der-word (der/die/das, dieser, jeder, welcher...) and a noun, it can't just stay in its plain form — it needs an ending. The good news: after a der-word, there are only two endings to choose from at all, -e or -en, and which one you need follows a small, learnable pattern.

Quick shortcut: use -e in the nominative singular (all three genders) and in the accusative singular feminine and neuter. Use -en everywhere else — accusative masculine singular, every dative, and the whole plural.

Why only two endings

A der-word like der, die, das, or dieser already shows the noun's gender and case pretty clearly on its own — see Articles in the accusative and Articles in the dative for how those article forms themselves change. Because the der-word is doing that work, the adjective ending doesn't need to repeat it in full — it only needs to distinguish a small number of remaining cases, which is why the whole system collapses down to just -e and -en. (This is sometimes called the "weak declension," in contrast to the fuller set of endings adjectives take with no article at all — a different topic for later.)

The pattern, case by case

Reading down each column, the pattern is easy to see: every cell is -en except the five shaded-in-your-mind cells — nominative masculine/feminine/neuter, and accusative feminine/neuter — which take -e.

• Der alte Mann schläft. (The old man is sleeping.) — nominative masculine → -e
• Ich sehe den alten Mann. (I see the old man.) — accusative masculine → -en
• Ich sehe die alte Frau. (I see the old woman.) — accusative feminine → -e
• Ich helfe der alten Frau. (I'm helping the old woman.) — dative feminine → -en
• Die alten Häuser sind schön. (The old houses are beautiful.) — plural nominative → -en

Other der-words behave the same way

The exact same -e/-en pattern applies after any der-word, not just der/die/das itself — dieser (this), jeder (every, singular only), and welcher (which) all take adjectives the same way:

• Dieser neue Computer ist teuer. (This new computer is expensive.) — nominative masculine → -e
• Ich kaufe diesen neuen Computer. (I'm buying this new computer.) — accusative masculine → -en
• In jedem großen Haus gibt es einen Garten. (In every big house there is a garden.) — dative masculine → -en

The adjective always needs an ending

It can feel like the der-word already says enough about gender and case, so the adjective doesn't need to bother — but it always does: ✅ der interessante Film, never ❌ der interessant Film. Even where the ending is just -e, it still has to be there. (A small handful of borrowed color adjectives — lila, rosa, orange — never take any ending at all: der lila Rock. They're the exception, not the rule.)

Common mistakes

• ❌ der alt Mann → ✅ der alte Mann (the adjective always needs an ending after a der-word — never left bare)
• ❌ Ich sehe den alte Mann. → ✅ Ich sehe den alten Mann. (accusative masculine takes -en, not the nominative's -e)
• ❌ mit dem alte Auto → ✅ mit dem alten Auto (dative is always -en, regardless of gender)
• ❌ die alte Kinder → ✅ die alten Kinder (plural is always -en, even though this looks like it could be feminine singular)

Quick check

Fill in the correct ending: -e or -en?

1. Der neu___ Lehrer heißt Herr Schmidt. (nominative, masculine)
2. Ich lese das neu___ Buch. (accusative, neuter)
3. Wir sprechen mit der neu___ Kollegin. (dative, feminine)
4. Die neu___ Schüler kommen aus Spanien. (nominative, plural)

Key takeaways

• After a der-word, an adjective takes only one of two endings: -e or -en — never the bare, undeclined form.
• -e appears in the nominative singular (all three genders) and the accusative singular feminine/neuter.
• -en appears everywhere else: accusative masculine singular, every dative case, and the entire plural.
• The same pattern applies after any der-word, not just der/die/das — including dieser, jeder, and welcher.
• This is the "weak declension" — adjectives with no article at all follow a different set of endings, covered separately.