Describing things

German adjective endings have a reputation, and it is deserved. But the single most useful way to use an adjective needs no ending at all, so start there and get a lot of mileage immediately.

After sein (and werden, bleiben), the adjective never changes. Ever.

• Das Auto ist schnell.

  The car is fast.

• Die Wohnung ist groß.

  The flat is big.

• Der Kaffee ist heiß.

  The coffee is hot.

• Deutsch ist interessant.

  German is interesting.

• Meine Wohnung ist klein.

  My flat is small.

Notice that the adjective stays identical regardless of gender, number or case. You can describe almost anything this way, and it is always correct.

Now the harder half. When an adjective sits in front of a noun, it takes an ending. The full system is large, so this lesson covers one slice of it: adjectives after ein / eine, in the nominative and accusative. That covers a great deal of everyday speech.

There is a logic worth seeing: ein on its own does not show the gender, so the adjective does the job instead — ein guter for masculine, ein gutes* for neuter. Feminine and neuter look the same in both cases, so once again only the masculine really moves.

• Das ist ein guter Freund.

  That is a good friend.

• Ich habe einen guten Freund.

  I have a good friend.

  accusative → guten

• Ich kaufe ein neues Auto.

  I am buying a new car.

• Ich möchte einen großen Kaffee, bitte.

  I would like a large coffee, please.

• Sie ist eine gute Kollegin.

  She is a good colleague.

This is the point to be honest about scope: adjective endings also change after der/die/das, and again in the dative, and again in the plural. That is a whole topic of its own and it will get its own lesson later. For now, aim to recognise these forms and produce the handful above — do not try to learn a full table you have no use for yet.

A practical shortcut while you are building fluency: if the ending is not coming to you, rephrase with sein. Der Kaffee ist groß instead of ein großer Kaffee. It is always correct, and it keeps you talking.