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Adjectives with stem changes before an ending

When you place an adjective before a noun in German, you must add a grammatical ending to match the gender, case, and number of that noun. Usually, this is a simple process. You just attach the correct ending directly to the dictionary form of the word. However, a small group of very common adjectives change their spelling slightly right before an ending is attached.

Because English adjectives never change their form, it is easy to forget that you cannot always just glue a letter to the end of a German word. For a handful of important adjectives, you need to adjust the core word, or stem, before you add the ending.

Word list
dunkelA1 dark eine dunkle Farbe dunkelA1 dark eine dunkle Nacht hochA1 tall ein hoher Turm teuerA1 expensive ein teures Auto leckerA2 tasty ein leckerer/leckrer Kuchen sauberA2 clean ein sauberes/saubres Hemd sauerA2 angry ein saurer Blick akzeptabelB1 acceptable eine akzeptable Lösung dunkelB1 dark dunkle Gedanken hochB1 high ein hoher Preis komfortabelB1 comfortable ein komfortables Sofa lockerB1 loose eine lockere/lockre Hose sauerB1 sour ein saurer Apfel düsterB2 dark düstere/düstre Gedanken hochB2 shrill eine hohe Stimme lockerB2 relaxed eine lockere/lockre Stimmung profitabelB2 profitable ein profitables Geschäft rentabelB2 profitable eine rentable Investition reversibelC1 reversible ein reversibler Prozess
Dropping the E

The most common spelling change happens with adjectives that end in -el or -er. When these words take an ending, they drop the unaccented e from their stem. This is not just a spelling rule. It actually makes the word much easier to pronounce.

For example, the word teuer drops its e to become teur- before taking endings like -es or -e. If you tried to say "teueres", it would sound clunky. The same rule applies to dunkel, which becomes dunkl-. This drop happens regardless of which ending you are attaching.

Das ist ein teures Hotel.
(That's an expensive hotel.)
Wir sitzen in einem dunklen Zimmer.
(We are sitting in a dark room.)
Sie trägt eine dunkle Jacke.
(She is wearing a dark jacket.)
The disappearing C

The adjective hoch has its own unique spelling quirk. When it stands alone at the end of a sentence, it keeps its full spelling and you pronounce the ch sound. But when you put it before a noun and add an ending, the c disappears completely.

The stem becomes hoh-, which changes the pronunciation to a long vowel sound. This is a strict, mandatory rule. You will never see "hoche" or "hoches" in correct German. It must always change to hohe, hoher, hohes, and so on.

Wir wohnen in einem hohen Gebäude.
(We live in a tall building.)
Das ist ein hoher Preis.
(That is a high price.)
Der Sänger hat eine sehr hohe Stimme.
(The singer has a very high-pitched voice.)
Optional vowel loss

With some adjectives ending in -er, dropping the e is optional but very common in everyday language. Words like sauer and locker can technically keep their full stem when an ending is added.

However, German speakers often drop the e to make the sentence flow better, especially in spoken German. You will frequently see and hear saure instead of sauere, and lockre instead of lockere. Since both forms are correct, you can choose the one that feels easiest to say, but you should be prepared to read and hear the shortened versions.

Er warf ihr einen sauren Blick zu.
(He threw her an angry look.)
Ich esse nicht gern saure Äpfel.
(I do not like eating sour apples.)
Wir genießen die lockre Atmosphäre.
(We are enjoying the relaxed atmosphere.)
Sie trägt meistens lockre Kleidung.
(She mostly wears loose-fitting clothes.)
Summary

When adding endings to German adjectives, pay special attention to words ending in -el or -er, as well as the word hoch. You will often need to drop a vowel or adjust a consonant to form the correct, natural-sounding word.