Hello everyone,
And welcome back to a new episode of everyone’s least favorite series:
German Case Charts
Hooray!
When it comes to German cases and endings, the usual way of presenting this stuff is in some form of table.
There are many different tables, like for example for definite articles, and for indefinite articles. And sometimes, they’re kind of combined into one super table.
Then, there are the adjective endings and the tables for strong alpha chad declension and weak soy “living in mom’s basement” declension and the non-binary declension.
And what’s really crazy is that some tables have the noun gender as rows and the cases as columns, but others actually have the cases as columns and the gender as rows, and sometimes people use all kinds of colors, too.
Insane creativity.
Okay, I think you can all smell the irony here.
There isn’t all that much creativity in the German teaching space. Everyone just uses tables.
And I think that’s a huge missed opportunity.
We’re leaving “gains on the table”, as we gym bros like to say.
I believe, there’s a lot to discover if we just start playing around a bit.
And today, I’m really happy to show you the work of one of your fellow German learners:
The German Declension Diamond
A type of chart that combines articles and adjective endings into one.
A while back, I shared my approach of a German case triangle, first for the articles and then for the adjective endings.
Here are the links, if you want to check those out:
I like these triangles for me personally, they’d a good way to memorize this for quick recall if you’re a visual person.
But part of the goal of this was to inspire you all to play around yourself, try out some things, even if it’s just for you personally.
Well… Peter, a reader from Australia, did just that and came up with his German Declension Diamond.
And I’m really happy that he agreed to share it with you all here.
Peter’s German Declension Diamond
Here’s what we’ll do.
First, I’ll show the chart as a small example.
Then I’ll explain how to read it and the elements that are on the chart.
And then, I’ll give you the links to all the charts he made so you can download them if you like them. He even added cutting lines on the big ones so they’re basically flashcard-ready :)
All right, so here’s the example:
It may look a bit overwhelming on first glance, but that’s mainly because there’s a LOT of information packed up (and my yellow numbers clutter the frame).
What you’re looking at is the chart for “Definite article, Nominative case“.
And there are three elements on it.
- The articles for the three genders and the plural form, with indications (f for feminine, pl for plural, etc)
- The adjective endings that go with this article
- Examples, where you can see the endings in action.
And that’s pretty much the idea.
There’s one chart per case basically and there’s a second set for indefinite articles.
And one way to use them would be as sort of flashcards, to repeat the endings per case. In fact, Peter has made two A4 pages that each have 4 charts on them in flashcard size, complete with cutting lines :).
Here’s all the files as full size for viewing and download – as separate pdfs, and all combined as a zip-file.
Big fat thank you to Peter for agreeing to sharing these!
Thoughts about these charts and more
Now, there are two things I like about this type of chart. First of, I like that it’s “spatial”.
I think our brains are VERY good at recognizing and remembering spatial information, even if you’d not describe yourself as a “visual” or “spatial” learner. We orient ourselves in a 3D environment, and a lot of things have their fixed “area” in space. Sky is up, crown of a tree is up, roof is up, wheels are down. Our brain is very aware of what’s where, because it matters. And I think we can leverage our brain’s inherent interest in “space” for learning much more than we do.
I mean, I have no studies to back this up, but I think it’s at least worth playing with it.
And also, having things spaced out like Peter has in his chart allows for having an example RIGHT NEXT to what it is an example for.
With tables, the examples are usually coming as a block below and you have to jump around with your eyes to connect table cells with endings. Here, the “rule” and the example have their own little area in space.
Now, the chart Peter made is quite dense. Me personally, I’d space things out more so each section is really visually separate from the others even on first glance.
In fact, you could even spread it out over an entire wall. Like… put each of the corners on one paper and put them up on your wall in the diamond shape with lots space between. To read the upper corner, you have to tilt up your head, to read the lower corner you have to bend down and so on. Information is connected with space and motion and body position. It’s more “integrated”.
Which makes me wonder actually… scented flashcards. Imagine each gender had a distinct smell. Like… coffee scent for “der” for example, car scent for “das” and pizza scent for “die”.
Or how about textured flashcards. One gender has a smooth surface, the second is a bit rough and the third is more velvet style. Real life memories are hooked with all kinds of triggers, yet when we learn vocabulary or grammar, we barely use any of them.
But I’m getting carried away here a bit.
So yeah… Peter’s charts use space as the main means of organizing the information and it’s a new approach which I haven’t seen yet and that’s awesome.
Maybe they’re perfect for you, maybe not.
But I do hope that they maybe inspire you to explore and play around yourself.
What works for YOU? How do YOU learn best? What would be a fitting way for YOU to present this stuff.
Just because a textbook presents information in a certain way, that doesn’t mean that it’s the only valid way. You’re free to find your own.
All right.
So that’s it for today.
Let me know in the comments… or actually, I should say let us know, because Peter will most certainly check in as well… so yeah, let us know what you think about the chart or if you have any questions about it. And if you have any ideas what to change or if you have a completely separate approach, please please share.
Right now, the German declension chart shelf looks like a shelf in late 19th century communism. It doesn’t have to become a full Walmart size Declension Chart aisle, but we definitely need a bit more choice :).
I’m really looking forward to your ideas, however crazy, and I really hope you enjoyed this.
Thanks again Peter for sharing and also for all the work and time you have put into honing these.
Have a great week everyone and I’ll see you next time.
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Vielen Dank an Peter und Emanuel.
Danke danke danke!
For the strong (primary) and weak (secondary) endings of articles, by all means learn a table or a chart like this. Whatever works for you. Then practice, practice, practice. There’s no short cut.
However for attributive adjectives, whether there’s a preceding article (or two);or none, whether it’s a plain adjective or a pronominal adjective (like viele, beide, mehrere etc), things can get even more complicated.
I’ve always relied on asking myself a couple mind questions like this:
Q1. Is there a form of article in front of the adjectives with an obvious ending?
If NO – (includes undeclined ein-words). All the attributive adjectives must take the appropriate strong ending for the gender and case:
If YES –
Q2. Is the article the ORIGINAL ie dictionary ending?
— YES – All the adjectives that follow must take -e
— NO – All the adjectives that follow must take -en
This approach has been proposed by a few different contemporary sources. The idea is probably based on the short article “Andere Gute(n) Männer” by Stuart A. Gallacher, The German Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Nov., 1957), pp. 269-271, free at JStor. It’s not perfect. There are exceptions. But in conversations, it works 99.9% of the time in practice which is good enough for me. I find it easy to apply on the run.
Good show there, Micky!
The Gallacher article’s hot stuff for sure.
Even the imposing DUDEN-Vols. 4 (“Die Grammatik”) & especially 9 (“Zweifelsfaelle der deutschen Sprache”) don’t always agree on this topic, for example the singular declension pattern without article, “.auf weichEM weissEM Schnee” is deemed acceptable right alongside “auf weichEM weissEN Schnee”.
Go figure.
Yeah, I agree that for adjective endings, thinking in tables is just too slow.
If learners could only bring themselves to consistently add an “-e”, they’d already sound much better, but instead teaching useful tricks like that or a step by step guide like your system, schools keep feeding people these tables, with a weird subtle glee about how confusing this all seems (weak, strong, mixed).
Often though standard sources such as DUDEN and Wahrig won’t always be in agreement as to which choice is preferrable, even if both are “correct”!My native speaker instinct would opt for “,,,,auf weichEM weissEN Schnee”.How about your?
How about you?
They’re both correct in my opinion.
– Kaffee mit leckerem veganen Kuchen.
– Kaffee mit leckerem veganem Kuchen.
I would NEVER use the second one here, but I can’t “justify” it grammatically. I think it might be the emergence of an “objective” case marker, which is a secondary marker that can go with Accusative and Dative.
My feeling is that it’s as much a matter of personal style as it is grammar!
Perhaps two other native speakers might feel differently.
Vielen Dank an Peter und an Sie. Peters Diamant ist es wahrlich!
I’m quite excited to try these! I’ve printed them out, so I’m ready to go. I know many of these (I’m at A1–A2 ish), but there are gaps, and I think these visuals will fill the gaps really well. They seem really efficient!
Yeah, try it out. Maybe they won’t really stick. That’s okay then, don’t try to force it. But maybe they DO stick without too much effort. That’s the goal essentially… finding a representation that you “vibe” with.
This Declension Diamond is such a creative and refreshing approach! I really like how it connects space and structure; it makes remembering endings so much easier and more natural. Huge thanks to Peter for sharing this idea, it’s inspiring to see learners contributing in such unique ways.
Also, a heartfelt thank you to Emanuel and everyone who helped sponsor memberships for learners like me. I’ve just received one, and I’m truly grateful for the chance to keep learning German with this amazing community. Vielen Dank!
Awesome. I love the presentation. I agree with you about using lots of different senses to help organize and memorize things. I had a high school English teacher who told us when she was studying literature at university she used a flashcards system. She used pink flashcards for 17th century writers, purple flashcards for 18th century writers, green flashcards for 19th century, writers, etc., then on top of that when she studied. 17th century writers with the pink flashcards, she always did it in her living room, the green cards she always practiced in her kitchen, for example. That way she always had two different triggers to organize what. That writer was from. It’s 40 years later, and I still remember her system.
Flashcards or what we in German call “Lernkaertchen” are absolutely essential right at the beginning to reinforce vocabulary recognition!
This curtails, if not exactly eliminates, the need for cumbersome translation and forces the learner to rely less on the source and depend gradually on the target language being acquired.
I’ve been using them for years and swear by them.
Can you recommend any?
I like. Particularly the composition of the sentences. They’re so closely related, one can’t help but notice the differences, which is sort of the point. My eye kept jumping around the circle, as if hunting the differences, keeping track of them. Job well done, in my opinion.
I’m a visual learner- so these will be so helpful. I especially love the “flashcards” because I can print them and review as I’m walking my dog or sitting at traffic lights :-)
I appreciate the creativity of the charts and having the examples integrated is a great idea. For me though, the really breakthrough source for adjective endings was your article (https://yourdailygerman.com/german-adjective-endings-exercise/). I don’t do well with the tables or charts because I can’t think on them while speaking or writing, but understanding how the endings convey information and how they provide rhythm, and then practicing it a bit, makes the rules mostly intuitive.
Thanks for posting this link, Jeffrey. I’m a new member and it’s hard to know where to start on the site.
Depending on your level, I’d recommend starting on the grammar section either with the essentials or with whatever topic interests you. And then, beyond that, just go by words and word families that interest you.
Danke!
Hallo,
Some typos:
“part of the goal this was to inspire” (part of the goal of this was to inspire)
“came up with a his” (either “a” or “his”)
“and it’s new approach” (and it’s a new approach)
Love these charts, I’ve got a photographic memory, so I find them perfect. Thanks a lot to Peter!
Bis bald!
Hallo! Dumb question. On the indef gen masc chart, I can’t figure out why it’s “eines größen Mannes” mit dem Umlaut. Warum nicht großen oder größeren? Danke. Du bist am supisten! Lolol.
Oh, you’re right, that should be “großen”. Peter had asked me to check the examples, but somehow I didn’t catch that.
The red colored case endings for the adjective + noun tables look quite useful.
Update: Peter saw your comment and fixed the files. I just uploaded the new ones without the extra umlauts :)
Hmm. I just downloaded the files, and they came with the extra umlauts.
Oh, yeah, the plural one… we missed that one.
Beautifully clear.
Many thanks.
As a teacher, I’m always on the look out for new and engaging methods with which to help students break through the “impenetrable” case barrier!
I’d have to work through your presentation more thoroughly before I can gauge its effectiveness.