This exam tips covers Exam Tips & Common Errors within Adjective endings for GCSE German. Revise Adjective endings in Core Grammar Toolkit for GCSE German with 10 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 4 of 4 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
💡 Exam Tips & Common Errors
- First ask: "Is the adjective before a noun?" If NO → no ending. If YES → check the article and the case.
- After der / die / das, the safe default ending is -e (nominative) or -en (most other cases).
- After an ein-word, let the adjective show the gender: -er, -e, -es in the nominative.
- Watch prepositions — mit, aus, bei trigger the dative, which usually means an -en ending.
❌ Common error: Der groß Mann ist hier.
✓ Correct: Der große Mann ist hier.
Why it costs marks: when an adjective comes before the noun (der ___ Mann), it must take an ending — here -e (nominative masculine after der). Leaving the adjective bare (groß Mann) is a common GCSE error that loses an AO2 mark. (Note: Der Mann ist groß — after the verb — correctly has NO ending.)
Practice questions for Adjective endings
Which adjective ending is correct? 'Die ___ Frau singt.' (The beautiful woman is singing.)
Which adjective ending is correct for plural? 'Die ___ Kinder spielen.' (The small children are playing.)