A1 German GrammarBasic Adjectives
Learn essential German adjectives to describe people, places, and things. Discover common adjectives like groß, klein, gut, schlecht and understand their basic usage in sentences.
1Common Descriptive Adjectives
German has many adjectives for describing size, quality, and appearance. At the A1 level, you should learn the most common pairs of opposites. Adjectives can be used after verbs like sein (to be) without any ending changes.
Common Adjective Pairs
| German | English | Opposite | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| groß | big/tall | klein | small/short |
| gut | good | schlecht | bad |
| neu | new | alt | old |
| schön | beautiful | hässlich | ugly |
Examples
Das Haus ist groß.
The house is big.
No ending after sein
Der Kaffee ist gut.
The coffee is good.
Adjective after the verb
Mein Auto ist neu.
My car is new.
No adjective ending needed
Die Stadt ist schön.
The city is beautiful.
Predicate adjective stays unchanged
2Adjectives for Feelings and States
Use adjectives to describe how people feel or the state of things. These adjectives are commonly used with sein to express emotions and conditions.
Feelings and States
| German | English | Opposite | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| glücklich | happy | traurig | sad |
| müde | tired | wach | awake |
| hungrig | hungry | satt | full |
| krank | sick | gesund | healthy |
Examples
Ich bin glücklich.
I am happy.
Expressing emotions
Die Kinder sind müde.
The children are tired.
Describing a state
Bist du hungrig?
Are you hungry?
Question with adjective
Er ist heute krank.
He is sick today.
Adding time expression
3Adjectives for Temperature and Weather
Weather and temperature adjectives are essential for daily conversation. Use these with sein or to describe the weather with es ist.
Temperature and Weather
| German | English | Opposite | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| warm | warm | kalt | cold |
| heiß | hot | kühl | cool |
| nass | wet | trocken | dry |
| hell | bright | dunkel | dark |
Examples
Es ist heute warm.
It is warm today.
Weather description
Der Winter ist kalt.
The winter is cold.
Seasonal description
Das Wasser ist heiß.
The water is hot.
Temperature of things
Draußen ist es dunkel.
It is dark outside.
Using es ist for conditions
4More Useful Adjectives
Here are additional common adjectives for describing things, people, and situations. These words will help you express more detailed descriptions in German.
Additional Common Adjectives
| German | English | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
| schnell | fast | Das Auto ist schnell. |
| langsam | slow | Der Bus ist langsam. |
| teuer | expensive | Das Hotel ist teuer. |
| billig | cheap | Das Essen ist billig. |
Examples
Der Zug ist schnell.
The train is fast.
Describing speed
Das Restaurant ist teuer.
The restaurant is expensive.
Describing cost
Die Aufgabe ist leicht.
The task is easy.
leicht = easy/light
Das Buch ist interessant.
The book is interesting.
Describing content