German · B1 · Everyday language
Materials Make Magic in German
Explore how simple craft materials bring your child's ideas to life. Practise describing materials in German with strong adjective endings when no article comes before a singular material noun.
What you'll learn
- Talk about glue, paint, paper and clay during creative activities.
- Use strong adjective endings with singular material nouns without articles.
- Distinguish nominative subjects from accusative objects.
German phrases for materials make magic
Starker Kleber hält die Teile deines Modells zusammen.
Strong glue holds the pieces of your model together.
Kleber is masculine. As the subject without an article, it takes the adjective ending -er: starker.
Du brauchst starken Kleber für die Grundplatte aus Holz.
You need strong glue for the wooden base.
Kleber is the accusative object of brauchen. Without an article, the adjective takes -en: starken.
Blaue Farbe sieht auf deinem Modellboot wunderschön aus.
Blue paint looks lovely on your model boat.
Farbe is feminine and is the subject here. Without an article, the adjective takes -e: blaue.
Wir brauchen noch blaue Farbe für den Hintergrund.
We still need blue paint for the background.
Farbe is the accusative object. The feminine adjective ending remains -e: blaue.
Buntes Papier ist perfekt für dein Projekt.
Coloured paper is perfect for your project.
Papier is neuter and is the subject here. Without an article, the adjective takes -es: buntes.
Du kannst buntes Papier für die Etiketten verwenden.
You can use coloured paper for the labels.
Papier is the accusative object of verwenden. The neuter adjective ending remains -es: buntes.
Weicher Ton lässt sich leicht formen.
Soft clay is easy to shape.
Ton is masculine and is the subject here, so weich takes -er. Lässt sich leicht formen means 'is easy to shape'.
Wir sollten weichen Ton für deine Skulptur kaufen.
We should buy soft clay for your sculpture.
Ton is the accusative object of kaufen, so weich takes -en. Sollten means 'should' here.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
der Kleber
glue
Masculine. Use starker Kleber for glue that holds firmly.
die Farbe
paint; colour
Feminine. In this craft context, Farbe means paint.
das Papier
paper
Neuter. Buntes Papier means coloured paper; bunt can also mean colourful or multicoloured.
der Ton
clay
Masculine. Here Ton is the material used for modelling, not its other meaning, 'sound' or 'tone'.
die Grundplatte
base plate; base
Grundplatte aus Holz means a wooden base plate.
zusammenhalten
to hold together
A separable verb: Der Kleber hält die Teile zusammen.
Strong adjective endings without an article
When an adjective comes before a noun without an article, it uses strong endings to show gender and case. Material nouns such as Kleber, Farbe, Papier and Ton are normally singular and used without an article when referring to an unspecified amount.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine nominative | adjective + -er | Starker Kleber hält die Teile zusammen. |
| Masculine accusative | adjective + -en | Du brauchst starken Kleber. |
| Feminine nominative | adjective + -e | Blaue Farbe sieht wunderschön aus. |
| Feminine accusative | adjective + -e | Wir brauchen blaue Farbe. |
| Neuter nominative | adjective + -es | Buntes Papier ist perfekt. |
| Neuter accusative | adjective + -es | Du kannst buntes Papier verwenden. |
Spotting the subject and object
The nominative marks the subject: the material being described or doing something. The accusative marks the direct object of verbs such as brauchen, verwenden and kaufen. In these two cases, only the masculine adjective ending changes.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject: what is easy to shape? | weicher Ton — nominative | Weicher Ton lässt sich leicht formen. |
| Object: what should we buy? | weichen Ton — accusative | Wir sollten weichen Ton kaufen. |
More examples
Roter Kleber hält das Papier zusammen.
Red glue holds the paper together.
Kleber is the masculine subject, so rot takes -er.
Für dein Modell brauchen wir roten Kleber.
For your model, we need red glue.
Kleber is still the accusative object even when the sentence begins with für dein Modell: roten Kleber.