ADJECTIVES

What is an adjective?
An adjective is a ‘describing’ word that tells you more about a person or thing, such as their appearance, colour, size or other qualities, for example, pretty, blue, big.

Using adjectives

Adjectives are words like clever, expensive and silly that tell you more about a noun (a living being, thing or idea). They can also tell you more about a pronoun, such as he or they. Adjectives are sometimes called ‘describing words’. They can be used right next to a noun they are describing, or can be separated from the noun by a verb like be, look, feel and so on.

a clever girl

an expensive coat

a silly idea

He’s just being silly.

For more information on Nouns and Pronouns, see pages 1 and 69.

In English, the only time an adjective changes its form is when you are making a comparison.

She’s cleverer than her brother.

That’s the silliest idea I ever heard!

In German, however, adjectives usually agree with what they are describing. This means that their endings change depending on whether the person or thing you are referring to is masculine, feminine or neuter, and singular or plural. It also depends on the case of the person or thing you are describing and whether it is preceded by the definite or indefinite article.

Das neue Buch ist da.	The new book has arrived.
Ich wollte es der alten Frau geben.	I wanted to give it to the old woman.
Sie erzählte mir eine langweilige Geschichte.	She told me a boring story.
Die deutschen Traditionen	German traditions

For more information on Cases and Articles, see pages 9 and 25.

As in English, German adjectives come BEFORE the noun they describe, but AFTER the verb in the sentence. The only time the adjective does not agree with the word it describes is when it comes AFTER the verb.

eine schwarze Katze	a black cat
Das Buch ist neu.	The book is new.

Key points

Most German adjectives change their form according to the case of the noun they are describing and whether the noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, singular or plural.

In German, the only time the adjective does not agree with the word it describes is when it comes AFTER the verb.

Making adjectives agree

The basic rules

In dictionaries, only the basic form of German adjectives is shown. You need to know how to change it to make it agree with the noun or pronoun the adjective describes.

To make an adjective agree with the noun or pronoun it describes, you simply add one of three sets of different endings:

The Weak Declension

The endings used after the definite articles der, die and das and other words declined like them are shown below.

Case	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Neuter Singular	All Genders Plural
Nominative	-e	-e	-e	-en
Accusative	-en	-e	-e	-en
Genitive	-en	-en	-en	-en
Dative	-en	-en	-en	-en

The following table shows you how these different endings are added to the adjective alt, meaning old, when it is used with the definite article.

Case	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Neuter Singular
Nominative	der alte Mann	die alte Frau	das alte Haus
Accusative	den alten Mann	die alte Frau	das alte Haus
Genitive	des alten Mann(e)s	der alten Frau	des alten Hauses
Dative	dem alten Mann	der alten Frau	dem alten Haus

Nominative:

Der alte Mann wohnt nebenan.

The old man lives next door.

Accusative:

Ich habe die alte Frau in der Bibliothek gesehen.

I saw the old woman in the library.

Genitive:

Die Besitzerin des alten Hauses ist ganz reich.

The owner of the old house is very rich.

Dative:

Er hilft dem alten Mann beim Einkaufen.

He helps the old man to do his shopping.

These are the plural endings of adjectives in the weak declension.

Plural	All Genders
Nominative	die alten
	Männer/Frauen/Häuser
Accusative	die alten
	Männer/Frauen/Häuser
Genitive	der alten
	Männer/Frauen/Häuser
Dative	den alten
	Männern/Frauen/Häusern

The Mixed Declension

The endings used after ein, kein, irgendein and the possessive adjectives are shown below.

Note that this declension differs from the weak declension only in the three forms underlined below.

Case	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Neuter Singular	All Genders Plural
Nominative	-er	-e	-es	-en
Accusative	-en	-e	-es	-en
Genitive	-en	-en	-en	-en
Dative	-en	-en	-en	-en

For more information on the Possessive adjectives, see page 37.

The following table shows you how these different endings are added to the adjective lang, meaning long.

Case	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Neuter Singular
Nominative	ein langer Weg	eine lange Reise	ein langes Spiel
Accusative	einen langen Weg	eine lange Reise	ein langes Spiel
Genitive	eines langen Weg(e)s	einer langen Reise	eines langen Spiel(e)s
Dative	einem langen Weg	einer langen Reise	einem langen Spiel

Nominative:

Eine lange Reise muss geplant werden.

You have to plan a long trip.

Accusative:

Ich habe einen langen Weg nach Hause.

It takes me a long time to get home.

Genitive:

Die vielen Nachteile einer langen Reise …

The many disadvantages of a long journey …

Dative:

Bei einem langen Spiel kann man sich langweilen.

You can get bored with a long game.

These are the plural endings of adjectives when they have a mixed declension.

Plural	All Genders
Nominative	ihre langen
	Wege/Reisen/Spiele
Accusative	ihre langen
	Wege/Reisen/Spiele
Genitive	ihrer langen
	Wege/Reisen/Spiele
Dative	ihren langen
	Wegen/Reisen/Spielen

The Strong Declension

The endings used when there is no article before the noun are shown below.

Case	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Neuter Singular	All Genders Plural
Nominative	-er	-e	-es	-e
Accusative	-en	-e	-es	-e
Genitive	-en	-er	-en	-er
Dative	-em	-er	-em	-en

The following table shows you how these different endings are added to the adjective gut, meaning good.

Case	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Neuter Singular
Nominative	guter Käse	gute Marmelade	gutes Bier
Accusative	guten Käse	gute Marmelade	gutes Bier
Genitive	guten Käses	guter Marmelade	guten Bier(e)s
Dative	gutem Käse	guter Marmelade	gutem Bier

Nominative:

Gutes Bier ist sehr wichtig auf einer Party.

Good beer is very important at a party.

Accusative:

Wo finde ich guten Käse?

Where will I get good cheese?

Genitive:

Das ist ein Zeichen guter Marmelade.

That is a sign of good jam.

Dative:

Zu gutem Käse braucht man auch Oliven.

You need olives to go with good cheese.

These are the plural endings of adjectives when they have a strong declension.

Note that the plural form of Käse is normally Käsesorten.

Plural	All Genders
Nominative	gute
	Käsesorten/Marmeladen/Biere
Accusative	gute
	Käsesorten/Marmeladen/Biere
Genitive	guter
	Käsesorten/Marmeladen/Biere
Dative	guten
	Käsesorten/Marmeladen/Bieren

Note that these endings allow the adjective to do the work of the missing article by showing the case of the noun and whether it is singular or plural, masculine, feminine or neuter.

The article is omitted more often in German than in English, especially where you have preposition + adjective + noun combinations.

Nach kurzer Fahrt kamen wir in Glasgow an.	After a short journey we arrived in Glasgow.
Mit gleichem Gehalt wie du würde ich mir einen Urlaub leisten können.	I’d be able to afford a holiday on the same salary as you.

These strong declension endings are also used after any of the following words when the noun they refer to is not preceded by an article.

Word	Meaning
ein bisschen	a little, a bit of
ein wenig	a little
ein paar	a few, a couple
weniger	fewer, less
einige (plural forms only)	some
etwas	some, any (singular)
mehr	more
lauter	nothing but, sheer, pure
solch	such
was für	what, what kind of
viel	much, many, a lot of
welch …!	what …! what a …!
manch	many a
wenig	little, few, not much
zwei, drei etc	two, three etc

Morgen hätte ich ein wenig freie Zeit für dich.	I could spare you some time tomorrow.
Sie hat mir ein paar gute Tipps gegeben.	She gave me a few good tips.
Er isst weniger frisches Obst als ich.	He eats less fresh fruit than me.
Heutzutage wollen mehr junge Frauen Ingenieurin werden.	Nowadays, more young women want to be engineers.
Solche leckere Schokolade habe ich schon lange nicht mehr gegessen.	I haven’t had such good chocolate for a long time.
Wir haben viel kostbare Zeit verschwendet.	We have wasted a lot of valuable time.
Welch herrliches Wetter!	What wonderful weather!

With wenig and numbers from zwei onwards, adjectives behave as follows:

• Strong, when there is no article:

Es gab damals nur wenig frisches Obst.	There was little fresh fruit at that time.
Zwei kleine Jungen kamen die Straße entlang.	Two small boys came along the street.

• Weak, when the definite article comes first:

Das wenige frische Obst, das es damals gab, war teuer.	The little fresh fruit that was available then, was expensive.
Die zwei kleinen Jungen, die die Straße entlangkamen.	The two small boys who came along the street.

• Mixed, when a possessive adjective comes first:

Meine zwei kleinen Jungen sind manchmal frech.

My two small sons are cheeky sometimes.

These strong declension endings also need to be used after possessives where no other word shows the case of the following noun and whether it’s masculine, feminine or neuter, singular or plural.

Sebastians altes Buch lag auf	Sebastian’s old book was lying
dem Tisch.	on the table.
Mutters neuer Computer sieht	Mother’s new computer looks
toll aus.	great.

Tip

When these various endings are added to adjectives, you have to watch out for some spelling changes.

When endings are added to the adjective hoch, meaning high, the simple form changes to hoh.

Das Gebäude ist hoch.	The building is high.
Das ist ein hohes Gebäude.	That is a high building.

Adjectives ending in -el lose the -e when endings are added.

Das Zimmer ist dunkel.	The room is dark.
Man sieht nichts in dem dunklen Zimmer.	You can’t see anything in the dark room.

Adjectives ending in -er often lose the -e when endings are added.

Das Auto war teuer.	The car was expensive.
Sie kaufte ein teures Auto.	She bought an expensive car.

Key points

To make an adjective agree with the noun it is describing, you simply add one of three sets of endings: weak, mixed or strong.

Strong endings are also used after particular words when not preceded by an article, for example, ein bisschen, ein paar, wenig, and after possessive adjectives.

Participles as adjectives

In English, the present participle is a verb form ending in -ing, which may be used as an adjective or a noun. In German, you simply add -d to the infinitive of the verb to form the present participle, which may then be used as an adjective with all the usual endings.

Auf dem Tisch stand ein Foto von einem lachenden Kind.

There was a photo of a laughing child on the table.

Note that the present participles of sein and haben cannot be used like this.

The past participle of a verb can also be used as an adjective.

Meine Mutter hat meine verlorenen Sachen gefunden.

My mother found my lost things.

For more information on Past participles, see page 113.

Adjectives preceded by the dative case

With many adjectives you use the dative case, for example:

•	ähnlich    similar to
	Er ist seinem Vater sehr ähnlich.     He’s very like his father.
•	bekannt    familiar to
	Sie kommt mir bekannt vor.    She seems familiar to me.
•	dankbar     grateful to
	Ich bin dir sehr dankbar.     I’m very grateful to you.
•	fremd    strange, alien to
	Das ist mir fremd.    That’s alien to me.
•	gleich     all the same to/like
	Es ist mir gleich.     It’s all the same to me.
•	leicht     easy for
	Du machst es dir wirklich zu leicht.     You really make things too easy for yourself.
•	nah(e)     close to
	Unser Haus ist nahe der Universität.     Our house is near the university.
•	peinlich     embarrassing for
	Das war ihr aber peinlich.     She was really embarrassed.
•	unbekannt     unknown to
	Das war mir unbekannt.    I didn’t know that.

Key points

In German, both present and past participles can also be used as adjectives.

With many German adjectives you use the dative case.

Adjectives used as nouns

All adjectives in German, and participles used as adjectives, can also be used as nouns. These are often called adjectival nouns.

Adjectives and participles used as nouns have:

• a capital letter like other nouns

Der neue Angestellte ist früh angekommen.

The new employee arrived early.

• weak, strong or mixed endings, depending on which article, if any, comes before them

Sie ist die neue Angestellte.	She is the new employee.
Das Gute daran ist, dass ich mehr verdiene.	The good thing about it is that I’m earning more.
Es bleibt beim Alten.	Things remain as they were.

Key points

Adjectives in German, and participles used as adjectives, can also be used as nouns. These are often called adjectival nouns.

Adjectival nouns begin with a capital letter and take the same endings as normal adjectives.

Some other points about adjectives

Adjectives describing nationality

These are not spelt with a capital letter in German except in public or official names.

Die deutsche Sprache ist schön.	The German language is beautiful.
Das französische Volk war entsetzt.	The people of France were horrified.
BUT:
Die Deutsche Bahn hat Erfolg.	The German railways are successful.

However, when these adjectives are used as nouns to refer to a language, a capital letter is used.

Sie sprechen kein Englisch.

They don’t speak English.

In German, for expressions like he is English/he is German etc a noun or adjectival noun is used instead of an adjective.

Er ist Deutscher.	He is German.
Sie ist Deutsche.	She is German.

Adjectives taken from place names

These are formed by adding -er to names of towns. They never change by adding endings to show case.

Kölner, Frankfurter, Berliner etc	from Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin etc
Der Kölner Dom ist wirklich beeindruckend.	Cologne cathedral is really impressive.
Ich möchte ein Frankfurter Würstchen.	I’d like a frankfurter sausage.

Adjectives from die Schweiz, meaning Switzerland, and some other regions can also be formed in this way.

Schweizer Käse mag ich gern.

I really like Swiss cheese.

Adjectives like these can be used as nouns denoting the inhabitants of a town, in which case they take the same endings as normal nouns.

Die Sprache des Kölners heißt Kölsch.	People from Cologne speak Kölsch.
Die Entscheidung wurde von den Frankfurtern begrüsst.	People from Frankfurt welcomed the decision.

Note that the feminine form of such nouns is formed by adding -in in the singular and -innen in the plural.

Christine, die Londonerin war, wollte nach Glasgow ziehen.

Christine, who was from London, wanted to move to Glasgow.

Key points

Adjectives describing nationality are not spelt with a capital letter in German except in public or official names, BUT when they are used as nouns to refer to a language, they do have a capital letter.

Adjectives taken from place names are formed by adding -er to the name of the town and never change by adding endings to show case.

They can also be used as nouns denoting the inhabitants of a place.

Comparatives of adjectives

What is a comparative adjective?
A comparative adjective in English is one with -er added to it or more or less in front of it, that is used to compare people or things, for example, slower, more beautiful.

In German, to say that something is easier, more expensive and so on, you add -er to the simple form of most adjectives.

einfach einfacher
Das war viel einfacher für dich.	That was much easier for you.

Note that adjectives whose simple form ends in -en or -er may drop the final -e to form the comparative, as in teurer.

teuer teurer
Diese Jacke ist teurer.	This jacket is more expensive.

To introduce the person or thing you are making the comparison with, use als (meaning than).

Er ist kleiner als seine Schwester.	He is smaller than his sister.
Diese Frage ist einfacher als die erste.	This question is easier than the first one.

To say that something or someone is as … as something or someone else, you use so … wie or genauso … wie, if you want to make it more emphatic. To say not as … as, you use nicht so … wie.

Sie ist so gut wie ihr Bruder.	She is as good as her brother.
Er war genauso glücklich wie ich.	He was just as happy as I was.
Sie ist nicht so alt wie du.	She is not as old as you.

Here are some examples of commonly used adjectives which have a vowel change in the comparative form:

Adjective	Meaning	Comparative	Meaning
alt	old	älter	older
stark	strong	stärker	stronger
schwach	weak	schwächer	weaker
scharf	sharp	schärfer	sharper
lang	long	länger	longer
kurz	short	kürzer	shorter
warm	warm	wärmer	warmer
kalt	cold	kälter	colder
hart	hard	härter	harder
groß	big	größer	bigger

Adjectives whose simple form ends in -el lose the -e before adding the comparative ending -er.

eitel eitler	vain vainer
Er ist eitler als ich.	He is vainer than me.
dunkel dunkler	dark darker
Deine Haare sind dunkler als ihre.	Your hair is darker than hers.

When used before the noun, comparative forms of adjectives take the same weak, strong or mixed endings as their simple forms.

Die jüngere Schwester ist größer als die ältere.	The younger sister is bigger than the older one.
Mein jüngerer Bruder geht jetzt zur Schule.	My younger brother goes to school now.

For more information on Making adjectives agree, see pages 42-48.

Grammar Extra!

With a few adjectives, comparative forms may also be used to translate the idea of -ish or rather.

Comparative	Meaning
älter	elderly
dünner	thinnish
dicker	fattish
größer	largish
jünger	youngish
kleiner	smallish
kürzer	shortish
neuer	newish

Eine ältere Frau kam die Straße entlang.	An elderly woman was coming along the street.
Er war von jüngerem Aussehen.	He was of youngish appearance.

Key points

In German, to form the comparative you add -er to the simple form of most adjectives.

To compare people or things in German, you use so … wie, genauso … wie, if you want to make it more emphatic, or nicht so … wie.

Than in comparatives corresponds to als.

There is a change in the vowel in many of the simple forms of German adjectives when forming their comparatives.

Adjectives whose simple form ends in -el, such as dunkel, lose the -e before adding the comparative ending -er.

Superlatives of adjectives

What is a superlative adjective?
A superlative adjective in English is one with -est on the end of it or most or least in front of it, that is used to compare people or things, for example, thinnest, most beautiful.

In German, to say that something or someone is easiest, youngest, most expensive and so on, you add -st to the simple form of the adjective. As with comparative forms, the vowel in the simple form can change. Superlative forms are generally used with the definite article and take the same weak endings as their simple forms.

Deine Hausaufgaben waren die einfachsten.	Your homework was easiest.
Sie ist die Jüngste in der Familie.	She is the youngest in the family.
Ich wollte die teuerste Jacke im Laden kaufen.	I wanted to buy the most expensive jacket in the shop.

Adjectives ending in -t, -tz, -z, -sch, -ss or -ß form the superlative by adding -est instead of -st.

der/die/das schlechteste	the worst
Das war der schlechteste Film seit Jahren.	That was the worst film in years.
der/die/das schmerzhafteste	the most painful
Das war ihre schmerzhafteste Verletzung.	That was her most painful injury.
der/die/das süßeste	the sweetest
Ich möchte den süßesten Nachtisch.	I would like the sweetest dessert.
der/die/das stolzeste	the proudest
Sie war die stolzeste Mutter in der Gegend.	She was the proudest mother in the area.
der/die/das frischeste	the freshest
Für dieses Rezept braucht man das frischeste Obst.	You need the freshest fruit for this recipe.

Adjectives ending in -eu and -au also add -est to form the superlative.

der/die/das neueste	the newest, the latest
Ich brauche die neueste Ausgabe des Wörterbuchs.	I need the latest edition of the dictionary.
der/die/das schlaueste	the cleverest
Sie ist die schlaueste Schülerin in der Klasse.	She is the cleverest student in the class.

The English superlative most, meaning very, can be expressed in German by any of the following words.

Superlative	Meaning
äußerst	extremely
sehr	very
besonders	especially
außerordentlich	exceptionally
höchst	extremely (not used with words of one syllable)
furchtbar	terribly (used only in conversation)
richtig	really/most (used only in conversation)

Sie ist ein äußerst begabter Mensch.	She is a most gifted person.
Das Essen war besonders schlecht.	The food was really dreadful.
Der Wein war furchtbar teuer.	The wine was terribly expensive.
Das sieht richtig komisch aus.	That looks really funny.

Tip

Just as English has some irregular comparative and superlative forms – better instead of ‘more good’, and worst instead of ‘most bad’ – German also has a few irregular forms.

Adjective	Meaning	Comparative	Meaning	Superlative	Meaning
gut	good	besser	better	der beste	the best
hoch	high	höher	higher	der höchste	the highest
viel	much/a lot	mehr	more	der meiste	the most
nah	near	näher	nearer	der nächste	the nearest

Ich habe eine bessere Idee.	I have a better idea.
Wo liegt der nächste Bahnhof?	Where is the nearest station?

Key points

Most German superlatives are formed by adding -st to the simple form of the adjective.

Adjectives ending in -t, -tz, -z, -sch, -ss, -ß, -eu or -au form the superlative by adding -est instead of -st.

Gut, hoch, viel and nah have irregular comparative and superlative forms: gut/besser/der beste, hoch/höher/der höchste, viel/mehr/