Adjectives & Adverbs
Predicate Adjectives (No Ending)
When adjectives come after the verb (usually sein), they have no ending:
Der Mann ist groß.
(The man is tall.)
Die Frau ist schön.
(The woman is beautiful.)
Das Haus ist alt.
(The house is old.)
Attributive Adjectives (With Endings)
When adjectives come before the noun, they need endings. The ending depends on:
- The case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive)
- The gender (masculine, feminine, neuter, plural)
- What article (if any) precedes the adjective
After Definite Articles (der/die/das)
Weak endings: mostly -e or -en.
| Case | Masc | Fem | Neut | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -e | -e | -e | -en |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -e | -en |
| Dative | -en | -en | -en | -en |
| Genitive | -en | -en | -en | -en |
der große Mann (the tall man)
die schöne Frau (the beautiful woman)
das alte Haus (the old house)
die kleinen Kinder (the small children)
Ich sehe den großen Mann. (I see the tall man. Accusative.)
mit der schönen Frau (with the beautiful woman. Dative.)
Pattern: Nominative has -e (except masculine accusative -en). Everything else is -en.
After Indefinite Articles (ein/eine/kein)
Mixed endings: the adjective shows gender when the article doesn't.
| Case | Masc | Fem | Neut | Plural (keine) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -en |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -en |
| Dative | -en | -en | -en | -en |
| Genitive | -en | -en | -en | -en |
ein großer Mann (a tall man)
eine schöne Frau (a beautiful woman)
ein altes Haus (an old house)
keine kleinen Kinder (no small children)
Ich sehe einen großen Mann. (I see a tall man. Accusative.)
Pattern: Where ein looks the same for masc/neut (ein), the adjective shows the difference (-er/-es).
Without Article (Strong Endings)
The adjective takes on the role of showing gender/case:
| Case | Masc | Fem | Neut | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -e |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -e |
| Dative | -em | -er | -em | -en |
| Genitive | -en | -er | -en | -er |
kalter Kaffee (cold coffee)
frische Milch (fresh milk)
deutsches Bier (German beer)
kleine Kinder (small children)
mit kaltem Kaffee (with cold coffee. Dative.)
Common Adjectives
Describing People
| German | English | German | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| groß | tall/big | klein | small/short |
| alt | old | jung | young |
| schön | beautiful | hässlich | ugly |
| nett | nice | freundlich | friendly |
| klug | smart | dumm | stupid |
| reich | rich | arm | poor |
| müde | tired | wach | awake |
| glücklich | happy | traurig | sad |
| krank | sick | gesund | healthy |
Describing Things
| German | English | German | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| neu | new | alt | old |
| gut | good | schlecht | bad |
| schnell | fast | langsam | slow |
| teuer | expensive | billig | cheap |
| leicht | easy/light | schwer | difficult/heavy |
| lang | long | kurz | short |
| heiß | hot | kalt | cold |
| warm | warm | kühl | cool |
| laut | loud | leise | quiet |
Comparative Form
Add -er to the adjective:
| Base | Comparative | English |
|---|---|---|
| schnell | schneller | faster |
| klein | kleiner | smaller |
| schön | schöner | more beautiful |
| billig | billiger | cheaper |
Use "als" for comparisons (like "than"):
Er ist größer als ich.
(He is taller than me.)
Dieses Auto ist schneller als das andere.
(This car is faster than the other one.)
Irregular Comparatives
| Base | Comparative | English |
|---|---|---|
| gut | besser | better |
| viel | mehr | more |
| gern | lieber | rather/prefer |
| hoch | höher | higher |
| nah | näher | nearer |
Many adjectives with a, o, u add umlaut:
| Base | Comparative |
|---|---|
| alt | älter |
| jung | jünger |
| groß | größer |
| lang | länger |
| kurz | kürzer |
| kalt | kälter |
| warm | wärmer |
Superlative Form
Use am + adjective + sten (predicate) or der/die/das + adjective + ste (attributive):
| Base | Superlative (predicate) | Superlative (attributive) |
|---|---|---|
| schnell | am schnellsten | der schnellste |
| schön | am schönsten | der schönste |
| klein | am kleinsten | der kleinste |
Er ist am größten.
(He is the tallest.)
Das ist der beste Film.
(That is the best movie.)
Sie ist die schönste Frau.
(She is the most beautiful woman.)
Irregular Superlatives
| Base | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| gut | besser | am besten / der beste |
| viel | mehr | am meisten / der meiste |
| gern | lieber | am liebsten |
| hoch | höher | am höchsten / der höchste |
| nah | näher | am nächsten / der nächste |
Adverbs
In German, most adjectives can be used as adverbs without any change:
Er fährt schnell.
(He drives fast.)
Sie singt schön.
(She sings beautifully.)
Er arbeitet gut.
(He works well.)
Common Adverbs
| German | English |
|---|---|
| sehr | very |
| immer | always |
| oft | often |
| manchmal | sometimes |
| nie/niemals | never |
| schon | already |
| noch | still/yet |
| gern(e) | gladly (like to) |
| hier | here |
| dort | there |
| heute | today |
| morgen | tomorrow |
| gestern | yesterday |
| jetzt | now |
| bald | soon |
| später | later |
gern(e): Expressing Likes
Use "gern" after the verb to say you like doing something:
Ich spiele gern Fußball.
(I like playing soccer.)
Er trinkt gern Bier.
(He likes drinking beer.)
Sie liest gern Bücher.
(She likes reading books.)
Comparative: lieber (prefer)
Ich trinke lieber Wein.
(I prefer drinking wine.)
Superlative: am liebsten (like most)
Am liebsten esse ich Pizza.
(Most of all, I like eating pizza.)
Practice
Der alte Mann liest eine interessante Zeitung.
(The old man reads an interesting newspaper.)
Ich kaufe einen neuen Computer.
(I'm buying a new computer.)
Sie wohnt in einem kleinen Haus.
(She lives in a small house.)
Dieses Restaurant ist besser als das andere.
(This restaurant is better than the other one.)
Das ist das beste Restaurant in der Stadt.
(That's the best restaurant in the city.)