When there is no article
German shows the gender and case of a noun phrase once. Normally the article does it. With no article, the adjective takes over and wears the ending that der, die, das would have had. English adjectives never change, so this is new.
The ending moves to the adjective
The forms
Adjective endings with no article
| Case | masculine | feminine | neuter | plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | guter Wein | kalte Milch | frisches Brot | neue Ideen |
| Akkusativ | guten Wein | kalte Milch | frisches Brot | neue Ideen |
| Dativ | gutem Wein | kalter Milch | frischem Brot | neuen Ideen |
| Genitiv | guten Weines | kalter Milch | frischen Brotes | neuer Ideen |
Without an article the Genitiv is rare.
Guter Wein ist nicht immer teuer.
Good wine isn't always expensive.
Nominativ masculine
Ich trinke gern guten Wein.
I like drinking good wine.
Akkusativ masculine
Ich koche mit kalter Milch.
I cook with cold milk.
Dativ feminine
Zum Frühstück gibt es frisches Brot.
There's fresh bread for breakfast.
Akkusativ neuter
Wir suchen neue Mitarbeiter.
We're looking for new staff.
Akkusativ plural
When is there no article?
General statements about substances and abstract things
Frisches Obst ist gesund.
Fresh fruit is healthy.
Wir hatten schönes Wetter.
We had lovely weather.
Ich trinke gern schwarzen Kaffee.
I like drinking black coffee.
Plural nouns
There is no plural of ein, so an indefinite plural noun has no article at all. This is the most common case.
Wir haben nette Nachbarn.
We have nice neighbours.
Sie hat gute Freunde in Wien.
She has good friends in Vienna.
Sie arbeitet mit netten Kollegen.
She works with nice colleagues.
After quantity words
viel, wenig, mehr and numbers have no ending, so the adjective carries it.
Auf dem Markt gibt es viel frischen Fisch.
There's a lot of fresh fish at the market.
Ich möchte zwei kalte Getränke.
I'd like two cold drinks.
