Adjective endings with no article · kaltes Wasser
With no der or ein in front, the adjective takes the article's ending itself: kalter Kaffee, kaltes Wasser, mit kaltem Wasser.
Examples
- Kalter Kaffee schmeckt nicht.Cold coffee doesn't taste good.
- Ich trinke gern kaltes Wasser.I like drinking cold water.
- Ich wasche das Obst mit kaltem Wasser.I wash the fruit with cold water.
When there is no article
Drinks and food (Kaffee, Milch, Wasser), materials and plurals often have no article: Ich trinke Kaffee. Add an adjective, and someone still has to show the gender and case. With no der or ein, the adjective does it.
The ending is the article's ending
Read the last letter of der / die / das and put it on the adjective.
As the object
only the masculine changes In the accusative (the object form: what you drink or buy) only the masculine changes, just like der → den:
After mit
dem becomes -em After mit, von and bei comes the dative (the form these words take: dem, der). Again the adjective takes the article's ending: dem → -em, der → -er, den → -en:
After etwas and numbers
the same endings etwas, viel, wenig and numbers have no ending, so the adjective still carries it:
Common mistakes
What you'll practise
1. kalter Kaffee, kalten Kaffee
No article: -er (der), -e (die), -es (das), -e (plural); as the object only the masculine changes to -en.
- Ich trinke gern schwarzen Tee.I like drinking black tea.
2. mit kaltem Wasser
After mit, von, bei with no article: -em (der / das nouns), -er (die nouns), -en (plural, the noun adding -n).
- Ich trinke Tee mit warmer Milch.I drink tea with warm milk.
Practise it until it sticks
Short drills built on these 2 skills, with instant feedback on every answer. Free to start.