Subdividing the phrase into subphrases

The first step is to subdivide the entire phrase into three subphrases: a determiner subphrase, an adjective subphrase, and a noun subphrase. These appear in this sequence; there is no alternation between subphrases in the phrase. However, each of the subphrases can be void.

• Determiners (item 1 in the list above) belong to the determiner subphrase.

• In compositions with definite articles (derjenige, dasselbe) the article is in the determiner subphrase and the remainder of the word in the adjective subphrase. Compositions with irgend- are declined as if the irgend- were not present.

• Numerals in the widest sense (item 2 in the list above) belong to the determiner subphrase when in a strong position and the phrase is singular; otherwise they belong to the adjective subphrase. There are, however, a handful of exceptions:

  • A few words belong to the determiner subphrase when in a strong position even in the plural. kein- is then always in the determiner subphrase. beid-, sämtlich-, and solch- can be used both ways (p-NA beide dicke Bücher or beide dicken Bücher; p-G beider dicker Bücher or beider dicken Bücher). More often than not, particularly in the p-NA case, they are treated as belonging to the determiner subphrase.

  • solch- after ein belongs to the adjective subphrase even when ein has no ending.

  • The expression alle beide is mostly declined in parallel, that is, both words are in the determiner subphrase although beid- is in a weak position after all-.

• Descriptive adjectives and ordinal numbers (item 3 in the list above) belong to the adjective subphrase.

• Adjectival nouns belong to the adjective subphrase.

• Non-adjectival nouns and names belong to the noun subphrase.

Endings in the determiner subphrase

• The mn-N forms of possessive pronouns and of indefinite articles in the determiner subphrase

  • have no ending when they are not the last word of the entire phrase,
  • have a weak ending in a weak position when they are the last word of the entire phrase, and
  • have a strong ending in a strong position when they are the last word of the entire phrase.

• When a noun with a mn-G ending -(e)s follows – and only then –, some words in the determiner subphrase can get the weak mn-G ending -en. This happens

  • never with indefinite articles, demonstrative pronouns, or possessive pronouns (the expression *diesen Jahres, here and there found with calendar dates, is at least dubious – instead use dieses Jahres which is doubtlessly correct),
  • typically with all-, jeglich- and irgendwelch-, which are all not very frequent in singular, e.g. das Ende allen irdischen Lebens, and
  • optionally with other words, e.g. jedes Mannes or jeden Mannes.

• All other words in the determiner subphrase have strong endings.

Endings in the adjective subphrase

All words in the adjective subphrase, as far as they are declined at all, have the same endings, to wit

• weak endings when the first word of the subphrase is in a weak position, and always in mn-G case

• strong endings when the first word of the subphrase is in a strong position, except in mn-G case.

For more than one adjective in a strong position, a variant with a strong ending on the first adjective and with weak endings on the remaining ones is also occasionally found, mainly in older literary texts.

The genitive forms of numerals greater than one have an -er in a strong position: zweier, dreier. Beyond three, this sounds slightly archaic, and beyond twelve, the genitive is avoided altogether and replaced by a construction with von, e.g. der Tod von fünfzig Männern.

When a numeral is the last word of the phrase, it can get an -en ending in the dative case:

Wievielen Schülern hast du das gegeben? – Fünfen.

The larger the number, the less frequently is this feature used. For two and three, it is mandatory, for numbers up to twelve (with the exception of seven where *siebenen would sound clumsy), it is quite commonly used, beyond twelve, it is awkward. The -e ending for p-NA numerals at the end of the phrase is obsolete but occurs in fixed expressions, e.g. alle Viere von sich strecken.

Endings in the noun subphrase

Nouns have only one kind of ending for each case; so they can either occur with their case ending (which is often void) or undeclined. Normally they have their case ending, with some exceptions:

• In weak noun declension, that is, when the mn-DA form differs from the mn-N form, the simpler mn-N form ist used instead of the mn-DA form when the noun appears isolated. This avoids confusion with plural forms: von Mensch zu Mensch, der Unterschied zwischen Mensch und Affe but der Unterschied zwischen einem Menschen und einem Affen. Nonetheless: sich etw. zu Herzen nehmen (to take sth. to heart), von Herzen kommend (heartfelt).

• Of a sequence of titles and names in strong position – which is the usual position for names –, only the title Herr and the last of the names is declined: Walters, Herrn Walter Müllers, Direktor Walter Müllers. In a name containing von, the given name is declined when the clause with von specifies this individual person (e.g. Walthers von der Vogelweide) but the last name when the von belongs to the family name (e.g. Gertrud von Le Forts).

• Of a sequence of titles and names in weak position, only the first title, but never names or the title Doktor, is inflected: des Walter Müller, des Herrn Walter Müller, des Doktor Walter Müller (always written as Dr. Walter Müller), des Direktors Walter Müller. Reasons for weak position of names could be:

  • usage of adjectives or possessive pronouns: der nette Herr Müller, unser Herr Müller (in a business letter, meaning “Mr. Müller of our company”)

  • in the genitive, avoidance of inflecting a name with a final sibilant: des Erasmus von Rotterdam, only for well-known names

  • avoidance of erroneous stress on the given name when a person puts his given name after the family name according to Bavarian custom: der Weiß Ferdl, der Kiem Pauli.

Examples

Here are some phrases with their decomposition into the three subphrases. The determiner subphrase is marked with green background colour when its last word has an ending, and with yellow background colour when it is void or its last word has no ending. The adjective subphrase is marked with green or yellow background colour depending on whether the words underly weak or strong declension. The only case where the two colours do not match is when a mn-G form of an adjective occurs in strong position as in example 23.

Examples 1–8 are the declensions for the four classes with definite and indefinite article. Examples 9–18 and 20–23 demonstrate the effect of the assignment of the words to the determiner and adjective subphrase. In example 20 two different assignments are possible, yielding different endings in the adjective subphrase; only in the p-D case the endings happen to be the same. In example 21 two different n-G endings are possible in the determiner subphrase. The noun subphrase in examples 18–20 is void, either because of a lacking noun or of an adjectival noun. The special rules about strong and weak position after personal pronouns are exemplified by examples 24–25.