So now you have probably mastered how to make simple sentences of two to three words in German and happy about it đ as you should be. Hurray!!! As a matter of fact itâs what celebrating because it was a thing of hard-practicing. Moving forward, youâll have to top of the game by adding some vital recipes (adjectives) to the menu. German adjectives are so beautiful to use and I love to play with them (I hope youâll do too đ). Yes, they may be a little trickier than those of English but I guarantee you that once you learn them perfectly from the beginning, that wonât be a problem anymore.
Content in this post |
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1. Definition of adjectives 2. How to obtain adjectives from German nouns 3. How to use Partizip I & II as adjectives 4. Regular and irregular adjectives 5. How to decline german adjectives 6. German positive and negative adjectives 7. Adjectives as Substantive nouns |
An adjective is a word that describes, identifies, qualifies or modifies a noun or a pronoun. German adjectives always begin with a small letter within a sentence. They can either be naturally occurring or derivatives of some nouns and verbs and vice versa. Those that are derivatives of German verbs often times end with â-tâ or â-endâ while those that are derived from nouns usually have the suffix â-lichâ or â-igâ as well as a changed vowel to the possible umlaut. See examples below;
Nouns | Obtained Adjectives | English Meaning |
---|---|---|
Sucht | sĂŒchtig | addicted |
Macht | mÀchtig | mighty |
Eifersucht | eifersĂŒchtig | jealous |
Gefahr | gefÀhrlich | dangerous |
Freund | freundlich | freundly |
Ehre | ehrlich | honest |
Orden | ordentlich | orderly, arranged |
Sport | sportlich | athletic, sportlish |
Punkt | pĂŒnktlich | punctual |
Hass | hÀsslich | ugly |
Wicht | wichtig | important |
Ries | riesig | huge |
Nerv | nervig | nervous (situation) |
Schmutz | schmutzig | dirty |
Abhang | abhÀngig | dependent |
FleiĂ | fleiĂig | diligent, hard-working |
Fleisch | fleischig | fleshy |
Ekel | ekelig | disgusting, irritating |
Vorsicht | vorsichtig | careful |
Niedergang | niedrig | low |
Sorgfalt | sorgfÀltig | precise, accurate |
Hochmut | hochmĂŒtig | arrogant, proud (negative) |
Salz | salzig | salty |
Neugier | neugierig | inquisitive, curious |
Billigung | billig | cheap |
Some other adjectives can also be obtained from nouns that end with “-keit” or “-heit” and vice versa. These suffixes represent the suffixes “-cy and -sy”, “-ty” or “-ness” in english. Some examples are listed belowâŠ
Adjectives | Meaning | Obtained Noun | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
schön | pretty, nice (situation) | Schönheit | beauty |
schwierig | difficult | Schwierigkeit | difficulty |
krank | sick | Krankheit | sickness |
möglich | possible | Möglichkeit | possibility |
notwendig | necessary | Notwendigkeit | necessity |
vielfÀltig | multiple | VielfÀltigkeit | multiplicity |
Ă€hnlich | similar | Ăhnlichkeit | similarity |
sĂŒĂ | sweet | SĂŒĂigkeit | sweetness |
höflich | polite | Höflichkeit | politeness |
gesund | healthy | Gesundheit | Health |
oberflÀchlich | superficial | OberflÀchlichkeit | superficiality |
hÀufig | frequent | HÀufigkeit | frequency |
lustig | funny, jovial | Lustigkeit | joviality |
öffentlich | public | Ăffentlichkeit | publicity |
peinlich | embarrasing | Peinlichkeit | awkwardness |
sicher | certain, safe, sure, | Sicherheit | security, safety |
echt | genuine | Echtheit | genuiness |
klein | small | Kleinheit | smallness |
faul | lazy | Faulheit | laziness |
offen | open | Offenheit | sincerity |
langsam | slow | Langsamkeit | slowness |
richtig | correct | Richtigkeit | correctness |
schlecht | bad | Schlechtigkeit | meanness |
schnell | quick | Schnelligkeit | quickness |
artig | well-behaved | Artigkeit | mannerliness |
fremd | strange, foreign | Fremdheit | strangeness |
gleich | equal, same | Gleichheit | equality |
hell | bright | Helligkeit | brightness |
Participial adjectives
Likewise, other adjectives can be obtained from the Partizip I and Partizip II of german verbs. These verb-forms are simply just declined with the adjective endings when being used.
Partizip I | Meaning | Partizip II | Meaning |
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öffnend | opening | geöffnet | opened |
kochend | cooking | gekocht | cooked |
spielend | playing | gespielt | played |
ĂŒberraschend | supprising | ĂŒberrascht | surprised |
schreibend | writing | geschrieben | written |
singend | singing | gesungen | sung |
essend | eating | gegessen | eaten |
lesend | reading | gelesen | read |
sprechend | speaking | gesprochen | spoken |
entscheidend | deciding | entschieden | decided |
Categories of adjectives
The two categories of adjectives are;
- Regular
- Irregular
Regular adjectives in German
Regular adjectives are those adjectives that donât change in their comparative and superlative forms. Some examples of regular adjectives are listed below;
German | English | German | English |
---|---|---|---|
hĂŒbsch | beautiful | lecker | delicious |
schwach | weak | weich | soft |
dick | fat, thick | weit | far |
dĂŒnn | thin | tief | deep |
nervös | nervous (emotion) | ruhig | calm |
leer | empty | komisch | weird, strange |
nett | nice (personality) | leicht | light |
bitter | bitter | spontan | spontaneous |
sauber | clean, neat | falsch | false, wrong |
sauer | sour | ganz | whole, entire |
aktiv | active | blass | pale |
aalglatt | slippery | leise | quiet |
schwer | heavy | einfach | easy, simple, just |
bequem | comfortable | fest | fixed, permanent |
eng | tight | heiĂ | hot |
erfolgreich | successful | frĂŒh | early |
ernst | serious | spÀt | late |
stolz | proud (positive) | privat | private |
schick | stylish, chic | schlau | cunning |
schĂŒchtern | shy | reif | ripe, mature |
alle Farben | all colours | alle Ordinalzahlen | all Ordinal numbers |
Irregular adjectives in German
Irregular adjectives on the other hand have comparative and superlative forms that are totally different. They are mostly those one-syllabic adjectives with the monophthong vowels âa, o, uâ. These vowels are changed to the umlaut in the comparative and superlative forms. Examples are;
German | English | German | English |
---|---|---|---|
hoch | high, tall (inanimate) | toll | great,awesome |
gut | good | schlank | narrow, slim |
lang | long | viel | much, many |
kurz | short | kalt | cold |
gern | prefered | dumm | stupid, dumb |
nah | near | klug | clever, smart |
bald | soon | jung | young |
arm | poor | klar | clear |
warm | warm | voll | full |
groĂ | tall, big (animate) | krank | sick |
stark | strong | teuer | expensive |
Positive and negative adjectives in German
All adjectives can occur in two distinguished forms. They can either be positive or negative. The positive form of an adjective is usually complimentary and inspirational unlike the negative form which is the opposite. Adjectives can form their negatives by negating them with “nicht”, adding certain prefixes like âun-â or suffixes like â-losâ to the positive form or simply using other adjectives that connote their opposite. Some examples include;
Positive form | Negative form | English (pos/neg) |
---|---|---|
möglich | unmöglich | possible/ impossible |
groĂ | klein | big/ small |
schön | hÀsslich | beautiful/ ugly |
hell | dunkel | bright/ dark |
klug | dumm | clever/ dumb |
glĂŒcklich | traurig | happy/ sad |
hoch | niedrig | high/ low |
lang | kurz | long/ short |
dick | dĂŒnn | fat/ thin |
einfach | schwierig | simple/ difficult |
leicht | schwer | light/ heavy |
bequem | unbequem | comfortable/ uncomfortable |
schnell | langsam | fast/ slow |
How to decline German adjectives
A German adjective may or may not be declined. When they are placed in front of a noun, they must have an end declension but when they are used as verb complement or without a noun, then they donât require any declension. This declension of german adjectives is dependent on four factors;
- The gender of the noun
- The grammatical case
- The category of the preceding article
- The absence of an article
These four categories have been combined in the table below for easy understanding.

**Note that the adjective endings for indefinite, negation and possessive articles are the same.
Usage |
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1. Der alte Mann kauft seinem jungen Frau eine schöne Blume.ââ The old man is buying a beautiful flower for his young wife. 2. Das kluge MĂ€dchen hat ihre B1-PrĂŒfung bestanden.ââ The clever girl passed her B1 exam. 3. Die arme Frau hat vor dem hohen alten GebĂ€ude gestanden.ââThe poor woman was standing in front of the tall old building. 4. Ich liebe kleine Kinder.ââ I love little children. 5. Die schönen Töchter des reichen PrĂ€sidenten machen ihren Urlaub in Paris.ââ The beautiful daughters of the rich president are spending their holiday in Paris. |
How to complement German adjectives with verbs
These verbs are often used without a direct object and still make sense. examples. are;
German | English |
---|---|
aussehen sein wirken finden schmecken | to look (appearance) to be to work/ function to find to taste |
usage;
- Du siehst gut in dieser Hose aus.ââ you look good in this trouser.
- Wir finde unser Haus schön.ââ we find our house beautiful.
- Mara is mĂŒde.ââ Mara is tired.
- Das Radio wirkt nicht gut.ââ the radio does not work well.
- Das Essen schmeckt lecker.ââ the food tastes delicious.
Some adjectives donât follow the normal rules of adjectives declension. They are slightly modified if at all they would be declined. The following rules must then be adhered to.
- Adjectives that end with â-eâ donât require another â-eâ when declining them. E.g böse
- Adjectives that end with â-elâ or â-erâ lose their preceding â-eâ before they are declined. E.g dunkel, teuer
- Adjectives that end with â-aâ are never declined. E.g rosa, lila
- Adjectives that end with â-sâ lose their âsâ before they are declined. E.g rechts
Usage;
- Der böse Mann geht jetzt nach Hause.ââ The wicked man is going home now.
- Ich mag dunkle Farben.ââ I like dark colours.
- Meine Schwester hat den teuren Rock gekauft.ââ my sister has bought the expensive skirt.
- Wieso hat deine kleine Nichte ihren rechten Arm gebrochen?ââ how come your little niece broke her right arm?
- Sara möchte ihren sĂŒĂen Mutter eine rosa Tasche kaufen.ââ Sara would like to buy a pink bag for her sweet mother.
Adjectives as substantive nouns
As earlier mentioned, adjectives can be naturally occurring or derivatives of some nouns or verbs. Some of these naturally occurring and derived adjectives of the Partizip I and Partizip II of german verbs can also be used as masculine and feminine nouns. These adjectives when used as nouns are termed substantive nouns. They must be capitalized at the initials like every other German noun and then declined to the imaginary noun they are supposedly standing in for. For example;
Adjectives | Substantive nouns | Meaning |
---|---|---|
angestellt | Der/Die Angestellte | The Employee |
krank | Der/Die Kranke | The sick (people) |
arm | Der/Die Arme | The poor (people) |
deutsch | Der/Die Deutsche*r | German (person) |
arbeitlos | Der/Die Arbeitslose | The jobless person |
bekannt | Der/Die Bekannte | The acquaintance |
studierend | Der/Die Studierende | The student(s) |
Usage;
- Eine meiner Freundinnen hat einen Deutschen geheiratet.ââ one of my friends got married to a german.
- Diese Angestellte verdient nicht so viel Geld.ââ That employee does not earn so much money.
- Ich schenke oft den Armen Kleidungen, die ich nicht mehr nutze.ââ I often give clothes that I donât use anymore to the poor.
When adjectives come directly after certain indefinite pronouns such as nichts and etwas, they become neuter nouns with their initial letters capitalized and the suffix â-esâ added. For example:
- Kannst du mir etwas Interessantes sagen.ââ can you please tell me something interesting.
- Wir haben noch nichts Leckeres gegessen.ââ we still havenât eaten anything delicious.