This is not a regular blog entry. It's a highly technical discussion of a particular aspect of German grammar. Unless you're into that, skip it! But if you are a German grammar expert, I'd appreciate any comments and/or corrections.

This is my attempt to simplify the charts of German article and adjectival inflections. I start with the simplified chart just below, and then note a few "overriding exceptions", although in speaking German, you think of those first. The remainder of the entry applies the "overriding exceptions", one by one, to the simplified chart, gradually developing the full set of charts usually given in German texts.

General notes: "Neuter", Masculine", and "Feminine" in this document refer to singular forms only; gender is irrelevant in plural forms. A dash ("-") in front of an entry indicates that it's a suffix.

Rule 1. Basic charts (but these are modified by Rules 2, 3, and 4):

This is my simplified version of the German article and adjectival inflections charts, the result of my effort to make it as simple as possible, for easy recollection. But this simple chart then has to be modified by some overriding exceptions, to follow.

Article, dies- or mein- word, or lone adjective   Neuter Masc. Fem/Plural Nom./Acc. DAS, -ES DER, -ER DIE, -E Dative DEM, -EM DER, -ER Genitive DES, -ES DER, -ER

Following adjective   Singular Plural Nom./Acc. -E -EN Dative -EN Genitive -EN

Rule 2. Overriding exception:

      Masculine-Accusative and Plural-Dative use DEN or -EN in all forms.

Rule 3. Overriding exception:

      In Nominative and Accusative indefinite articles or "mein" words:

Rule 4. Overriding exception:

      (Rare) Use -EN instead of -ES on lone Genitive adjectives.

The definite article and dies- words (nominative/masculine form given) are:

The indefinite article and mein- words (nominative/masculine form given) are:

Now, let's check the above rules by applying them one by one. After they have all been applied, we should have generated the full-blown charts usually given in German textbooks.

First, the full-blown tables that result from Rule 1 only. These are not correct! They represent the application of Rule 1 only, without the following exceptions.

Definite article   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative DAS DER DIE DIE Accusative DAS DER DIE DIE Dative DEM DEM DER DER Genitive DES DES DER DER

Lone adjective   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -ER -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -ER Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Dies- word (similar to definite article)   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -ER -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -ER Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Adjective after definite article or dies- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -E -E -E -EN Accusative -E -E -E -EN Dative -EN -EN -EN -EN Genitive -EN -EN -EN -EN

Indefinite article or mein- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -ER -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -ER Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Adjective after indefinite article or mein- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -E -E -E -EN Accusative -E -E -E -EN Dative -EN -EN -EN -EN Genitive -EN -EN -EN -EN

Now let's apply the overriding exception of rule 2, "Masculine-Accusative and Plural-Dative use DEN or -EN in all forms". The entries affected are shown in bold on a yellow background, although in some of them, there is no change from the table just above. Again, these tables are not correct! After this, there are two more rules to go.

Definite article   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative DAS DER DIE DIE Accusative DAS DEN DIE DIE Dative DEM DEM DER DEN Genitive DES DES DER DER

Lone adjective   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Dies- word (similar to definite article)   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Adjective after definite article or dies- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -E -E -E -EN Accusative -E -EN -E -EN Dative -EN -EN -EN -EN Genitive -EN -EN -EN -EN

Indefinite article or mein- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Adjective after indefinite article or mein- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -E -E -E -EN Accusative -E -EN -E -EN Dative -EN -EN -EN -EN Genitive -EN -EN -EN -EN

Now let's apply the overriding exception of rule 3, "In Nominative and Accusative indefinite articles or "mein" words, drop any -ES or -ER, but transfer it to any following adjective(s)". The entries affected are again shown in bold on a yellow background (there are only six of them). Again, these tables are not correct! After this, there's still one more rule to go.

Definite article   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative DAS DER DIE DIE Accusative DAS DEN DIE DIE Dative DEM DEM DER DEN Genitive DES DES DER DER

Lone adjective   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Dies- word (similar to definite article)   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Adjective after definite article or dies- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -E -E -E -EN Accusative -E -EN -E -EN Dative -EN -EN -EN -EN Genitive -EN -EN -EN -EN

Indefinite article or mein- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -- -- -E -E Accusative -- -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Adjective after indefinite article or mein- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -EN Accusative -ES -EN -E -EN Dative -EN -EN -EN -EN Genitive -EN -EN -EN -EN

Finally, let's apply the (rare) overriding exception of rule 4, "Use -EN instead of -ES on lone Genitive adjectives". The entries affected are again shown in bold on a yellow background. Finally, we have the correct tables as shown in the textbooks.

Definite article   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative DAS DER DIE DIE Accusative DAS DEN DIE DIE Dative DEM DEM DER DEN Genitive DES DES DER DER

Lone adjective   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -EN -EN -ER -ER

Dies- word (similar to definite article)   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -E Accusative -ES -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Adjective after definite article or dies- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -E -E -E -EN Accusative -E -EN -E -EN Dative -EN -EN -EN -EN Genitive -EN -EN -EN -EN

Indefinite article or mein- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -- -- -E -E Accusative -- -EN -E -E Dative -EM -EM -ER -EN Genitive -ES -ES -ER -ER

Adjective after indefinite article or mein- word   Neuter Masc. Fem. Plural Nominative -ES -ER -E -EN Accusative -ES -EN -E -EN Dative -EN -EN -EN -EN Genitive -EN -EN -EN -EN

My suggestion is that the simplified table, with application of the overriding exceptions, is easier to remember while speaking than the full chart. Although it's actually best to think of the overriding exceptions first, it's easier to check the rules by starting with the simplified chart, and then applying the "exceptions", to see that you arrive at the right result.

Just think, little children speak this language.