Today we will cover the declension of adjectives. Adjective declension (Deklination von Adjektiven), sometimes called adjective inflection, is when we change the ending of an adjective so that it agrees with a noun in terms of gender, number and case.
There are 3 types of declension, depending on the the particle that comes before the adjective:
| Type of declension | Example |
| Weak declension (the definite article + adjective) | das schöne Sofa the beautiful sofa |
| Mixed declension (indefinite article + adjective) | ein schönes Sofa a beautiful sofa |
| Strong declination (no article + adjective) | schönes Sofa beautiful sofa |
We will practice the weak declension in this lesson. This type is used when the definite articles (der, die, das) or the pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses – this) come before the adjective and the adjective before the noun.
This is called weak declension because the case marker is not carried by the adjective but rather particle before it.