(Articles are words like der, die, das, ein, mein, unser, dieser, jeder, etc.)
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If NO (if there is no article): add the ending that would occur on a der-word for that noun. For instance: |
| Deutsches Bier schmeckt gut. | (it would be dieses Bier, so we add -es to deutsch) |
| Ich trinke kalten Kaffee gern. | (it would be diesen Kaffee, so we add -en to kalt)
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If YES (if there is an article already), move on to question 2. |
(This references the second keep in mind described above. "Ich sehe ein Buch", even though Buch is in the accusative, uses the same ein form as the original nominative, so it is in the original form.)
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If NO (if the article is different from its original form), add -en. |
| Ich kenne einen guten Mann. | (einen, masculine accusative, has changed from the original ein) |
| Ich spreche mit der netten Frau. | (der, feminine dative, has changed from the original die)
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If YES (if the article is in its original form), move on to question 3. |
If NO (if the noun is plural), add -en. |
| Ich sehe die jungen Kinder. | (die, plural accusative, is in its original form, but it is plural, so an -en is added to jung) |
| Keine schönen Frauen waren da. | (keine, plural nominative, is in its original form, but it is plural, so an -en is added to schön)
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If YES (if the noun is singular), move on to question 4. |
(This references the first keep in mind above. Der Mann, den Mann, dem Mann, einen Mann, and einem Mann all show the gender of Mann, but ein Mann does not. Das Buch, dem Buch, and einem Buch all show the gender of Buch, but ein Buch does not. Die Frau, der Frau, eine Frau, and einer Frau all show gender. As you see, pretty much the only articles which do not show gender are ein and its equivalents (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr).
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If NO (if the article is ein/dein/etc): add -er for masculine nouns, -es for neuter nouns. |
| Das ist ein gutes Buch. | (something needs to show the -s that is inherent to das Buch -- since ein does not show it, -es is added to gut) |
| Sein alter Hund war in der Küche. | (something needs to show the -r that is inherent to der Hund -- since sein does not show it, -er is added to alt)
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If YES (if the article already shows the gender): add -e. |
| Hier ist eine kleine Lampe. | (eine shows that Lampe is feminine, so only -e is added to klein) |
| Wo ist der rote Mantel? | (der shows that Mantel is masculine, so only -e is added to rot) |
der, die, das, den, dem | (the) |
dieser, diese, dieses, diesen, diesem | (this/that/these) |
jeder, jede, jedes, jeden, jedem | (each/every) |
mancher, manche, manches, manchen, manchem | (some) |
solcher, solche, solches, solchen, solchem | (such) |
welcher, welche, welches, welchen, welchem | (which) |
ein, eine, einen, einem, einer | (a/an) |
kein--, mein--, dein--, sein--, ihr--, unser--, euer--, Ihr-- | (no, my, your, his/its, her, our, your, Your) |
alle, beide | (all, both) |